The Social Media Sabbath: My Small Experiment in Digital Wellness

I've always had a tortured relationship with social media. Instagram can be a real source of laughter, and sharing funny videos can be an easy way to bond with family and friends. But there's just a lot of junk on it. Many shorts are inane, yet I still can't help clicking on them -- there's a perverse pleasure in feeling superior to what you're watching.

Bluesky and short-form text networks in general can spark interesting conversations. But I find they also hijack what I'm thinking about, often leading to unnecessary rumination on the outrage du jour.

Reddit can be a source of novelty and fascination. But it also sucks me in, enabling a distracted mind that takes away from time with family and friends.

There is some value in social networks, but there's frankly too much content too easily available. And as with anything, the poison is in the portion. While I'm not ready to go off social media altogether, I'm always trying to find ways to add boundaries around it.

I've tried keeping it off my phone altogether, but embarrassingly, it only lasts a few hours. I've found myself deleting and reinstalling Instagram multiple times per day on some days.

My newest experiment is something I'll call a social media sabbath.

Why call it a Sabbath?

I use this religiously loaded term intentionally here. In a religious sense it's meant as a day of worship, but that worship starts by practicing a day of rest. It's a time to stop being productive, to embrace the joy of missing out, and to slow down for once. This is exactly what I need around social media -- just a day to turn it off. So taking cues from Judiasm, every Saturday night I will uninstall all social media apps from my phone. Sunday night I can reinstall any that I'm craving at that point.

It's not a total dopamine detox as some tech bros have tried before. I can still play video games if I wish, or watch Netflix, read news on my phone, etc. The difference is that those things come in bigger meals, with focused chunks of time. I want a break from constant snacking that comes with having these distraction devices in your pocket.

I'm not sure how long this will last. I tried my first sabbath this weekend, and I found that the time-bound nature of it made it easier to stick to. It was simply easier to say "no" today knowing that I'll have plenty of time to mindlessly scroll Instagram tomorrow.

Have you found balance in your media diet? Or is the idea of a balanced media diet a lost cause at this point? Let me know what you think.