Burnout from Social Media? Why does it happen? What can you do about it?
Signs that you may be experiencing stress and burnout from social media:
Mindlessly scrolling for long periods of time without any sense of enjoyment
Compulsively checking social media at the expense of real-life activities
Feeling anxious or stressed when you get notifications from social media apps
Becoming isolated from real life social connections
Constantly comparing yourself negatively to other people's curated profiles and posts
Obsessing over likes, comments and followers instead of meaningful connections
Fatigue, irritability, or restlessness from excessive social media use
Withdrawal from in-person social interactions and relationships
Fear of missing out (FOMO) when not continuously connected on social platforms
Envy, bitterness, or resentment towards other people's success on social media
Why does social media stress and burnout happen? ...Pressure, Expectations, Comparison, Competition, Toxicity…The list goes on. These are alike for content creators, business owners, followers, and even those of us who are more observers.
Social media is designed to keep us coming back through dopamine hits. When we receive notifications, likes, and positive feedback on our posts, our brain gets rewarded with dopamine, reinforcing the desire for more. This can lead to mindlessly scrolling or compulsively checking apps for distraction, entertainment, or fear of missing out on the next update. We can get stuck in a dopamine-driven loop of constantly trying to keep up with the feeds and outpace others in likes and followers. But while the short-term dopamine rush feels good, longer-term it can take a toll — leading to burnout, inadequate feelings, and loss of interest in real world relationships. Recognizing how the dopamine habit forms is the first step toward breaking free.
Now, most coaches would encourage one to keep a log, diary, journal or some sort of way to track time spent, feelings and thoughts and takeaways. I would encourage you to do that too, and alternatively, it would be just fine to keep a mental notepad going, adding your reflections to that as you go about your day. Whatever it is, what you need to do is figure out what habits you have formed around the dopamine release you may be getting from social media. Once you've figured out what some of your social media triggers are that lead to dopamine release but then eventually stress, you can start to take action.
Besides reducing or eliminating time spent on social media, Here are some ways I've found helpful for many people when navigating it:
Notice the responses in your mind and body while scrolling and consuming content. Are you uplifted, relaxed, tense, cynical, outraged?
Work on your mindfulness muscle, try to check in with yourself as to why you just hopped on social media- was it a mindless habit or is there something you actually want to see? Will that something add or subtract to your day?
Prioritize- what does social media add to your life? Then put it in its place. You may have to completely step away from social media in order to figure out what effect it has in your life.
Take inventory- is your life better off with or without it? What do you want more of in your life? Prioritize that.
Take inventory of the accounts you follow—mute or unfollow those that frequently drag you down, trigger comparison or provoke you.
Disable notifications, move the app icon to a place you intentionally have to go to, don’t carry your phone everywhere you go, less automatic/mindless scrolling, less interruptions
Disable likes on your own posts to stay focused on your reasons for sharing, the quality of content and impact that you’re putting out there, not external validation
Seek out more positive voices that uplift and educate instead of provoke.
Share content related to causes and hobbies you genuinely care about, not just what will get engagement.
Teach your algorithm to focus on inspiring and positive content. See what you want to see by spending time engaging in what you want more of and scroll straight past things you don’t want. Most click bait intrigues you because it plays on your stress instincts (we get rewarded for vigilance of potential threats by becoming more energized) and remember, the platforms’ algorithms are made to try to keep you on the platform as long as they can so it is keen to figure out that you only want to see things that lift you up when you let it know that.
Decide what your boundaries are, it’s just like any other complicated relationship that has its pros and cons and requires boundaries to maintain your wellbeing.
Return to analog experiences, reach out to your friends and family offline, focus on the present moment and then tell the story later instead of live or constantly capturing the “moments”
Create avenues outside of social media for sharing experiences and life events with those who matter most to you.
Live life first, then share the story later.
Whatever role social media plays in your life, make sure it is on your terms and that it supports you to thrive in life.
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