How to Stay Connected During a Social Media Detox

Social media detox has several benefits for your mental and physical health. However, it can also be quite challenging—especially if you spend a considerable amount of time on social media. Now, you never have to miss out on what’s happening. Here are five ways to stay connected during a social media detox.

What Is a Social Media Detox?

A social media detox is when you consciously stop using social media for a certain period. The duration of the detox is different for every individual. It can range from seven days to an entire year.

It starts with deleting, barring access, or disabling all social media accounts. The goal is to resist the urge to check social media constantly. Abruptly ceasing all social media activity is not easy. Thus, apps such as Digital Detox and StayFree are great ways to follow through.

While there are several benefits of staying off social media, you can still stay connected to your friends and the world. Also, a temporary break is a fitting precursor for those considering quitting social media for good.

1. Make a Pen Pal

Writing letters has been the primary way of communicating with distant friends and family for a long. Letters add a personal touch to the message. If you’re taking a break from instant messaging, digital letters are a great option to stay in touch.

Slowly is an app that allows you to write digital letters and send them to anyone around the world. Slowly allows you to stay in touch with your friends and meet new people at the same time. Unlike emails, digital letters reach the other person over a few hours to days, based on where they are located.

Slowly allows you to maintain an anonymous profile through avatars and also send images in your letters. Therefore, if you’re trying to get rid of constant texts but still want to keep up, Slowly is a good option.

Download: Slowly for Android | iOS (Free)

2. Get a Workout Buddy

The urge to scroll through social media in the initial phases of your detox can be high. Thus, healthy distractions such as working out with a friend are extremely helpful. Getting a workout buddy can make exercising more fun and enjoyable. Additionally, it helps you stay accountable.

The Nike Run Club is one of the best running apps that helps you train for marathons and get your daily dose of cardio. Apart from tracking your runs, it gives you the option to challenge and connect with your friends. Thus, you can go on guided runs from people in your neighborhood or around the globe.

Download: Nike Run Club for Android | iOS (Free)

Similarly, Strava is one of the best social apps for exercise. It tracks over 30 sports, and you can share your activity directly with your friends. Strava curates a feed of people you follow and displays their recent activity. Through Strava, you will always know how active your friends are.

Download: Strava for Android | iOS (Free)

3. Try an RSS Reader Instead

Most social media apps have a personalized feed that keeps you on that platform for as long as possible. You need to scroll through several unnecessary posts and ads before you have access to relevant content. Whereas RSS readers help create a customized and chronological feed of content that you manually select.

An RSS reader is a dashboard where you get news updates from your favorite websites, blogs, and podcasts. This solves two problems – you can stay up to date with the latest events without having to rely on social media. And you do not need to search multiple websites.

Therefore, RSS readers save time spent on endless social media feeds. Additionally, you have complete control of what kind of content you consume. Try exploring some free RSS readers that make news-hunting quite easy.

4. Use Habitica to Stay Accountable With Friends

When starting a new habit, regime, or challenge, having a friend to share the experience with makes it easier. Similarly, starting a social media detox along with a friend can make it less daunting. An app such as Habitica is the perfect tool for this. It is a gamified habit-tracking app where you can monitor one another’s habit progress.

Habitica has the interface of an RPG game where you can level up and earn experience points by maintaining streaks. It has a feature where you can team up with your friends or compete with them. Either way, it can help you stay accountable during your social media detox.

Additionally, you can use Habitica as a journal, enter challenges, and connect with people who share the same interests. Therefore, it makes the detox easier as you can share your experience with your habit buddy and motivate one another.

Download: Habitica for Android | iOS (Free)

5. Find a Hobby Group

Engaging in hobbies is one of the best ways to divert your mind. But practicing or learning a hobby on your own is quite difficult. From lack of motivation to not knowing where to start, self-learning might not be the best idea. Therefore, joining a hobby group near you can simplify this process and make it extremely fun.

Meetup is a free website and app that helps find hobby groups and events near you. With millions of people using Meetup worldwide, you can potentially find any kind of group near you, whether it’s outdoor sports, board games, or art.

Therefore, Meetup is a great tool to expand your network, make new friends, and develop new skills. You can also start new groups. Try starting a local social media detox group on Meetup. That may further draw in like-minded people.

Stay Connected Without Social Media

Unhindered social media use can be taxing on your mental health. If you’re not yet ready for a complete detox, start by monitoring your daily screen time. Analyze how much time you spend on social media apps and work towards reducing it gradually.

However, distancing yourself from social apps does not mean you will lose touch with your friends. With the right resources, you can always stay in the loop.