Rewiring the Cable: Value Adding Techniques to use Social Media Purposefully 

In an ideal world, I would not use social media except under the following three scenarios: 

1) once I’m done studying, 

2) I’ve finished everything on my to-do list, and 

3) only when I have spare time. 

My ideal self? She’s the type of person that has her life together, can manage her time properly, gets a nice 6-8 hours of consistent sleep, is a good student, goes to the gym regularly, and can separate herself from her cellphone. However, that’s just ideal me; I usually find myself scrolling on my phone in the dark at an unholy hour, deep in my feed watching cute dog videos, travel videos and life hacks to manage my time and to “live life to my fullest potential” (how ironic, right?).

Despite my bad habits, I continued on as I was, mindlessly scrolling and subconsciously taking in that the majority of what was recommended to me on my Instagram Discovery page or what popped up on my Facebook timeline revolved around “time management”, “organization hacks” and “easy ways to…”

As much as we try to resist scrolling on our phones, we all do it. The question is, why does social media pull us in? When scrolling through Facebook, dopamine is what gives us that little hint of satisfaction. It makes us crave scrolling on forever, and it makes us forget that there are more productive and valuable ways to spend our time. Social media, while providing instant gratification, will not make you happier in the long run. 

I have combined a variety of methods to improve my social media experience, which will be explained below. My hope is that it encourages you to take on this new perception of social media. 

Abolish Distractions

I’m not going to lie: learning how to re-adjust and fix some of my old habits took a lot of trial and error. Learning how to maximize social media so we spend more time on it purposefully doesn’t mean you have to get rid of it; it means learning how to abolish distractions. 

I use Google Chrome as my internet browser, and I have a really great Chrome add-on that I use to eliminate my entire Facebook feed, and instead replace it with an inspiring quote! I haven’t procrastinated on my computer in ages, and I can still use every other function that Facebook has. 

Let’s admit, it’s useful for productivity in some ways. By removing the distraction that lies in the dead center of Facebook, you work towards doing everything else on that site purposefully. 

Another great function that many don’t know about is that you can simply type in www.messenger.com to use Facebook messenger on its own. As a university student, this is such an essential tool for group projects! I can communicate with people without thinking about notifications, or who’s birthday it is, or that cute dog video on my timeline. To abolish distractions on your mobile even further, turn your phone on Do Not Disturb mode, so that you don't receive notifications while you're focused on working. 

Adjust the Algorithm

It is definitely no secret anymore, Facebook is collecting data on us all the time. That link you clicked last week? Now you’ll get 20 ads about it. The people whose posts you like every time? Facebook knows you must be good friends. They already know this stuff and more. We know they know this. Although this may seem scary, all they really want to do is make you stay on their site longer. They are the company and you are the product. So why not just use their resources against them? Adjust the algorithm so well that you spend less time?

Even with the Chrome add on, I still do look at my feed on mobile. However, I try to allocate as little time as possible to scrolling through by optimizing a few settings. To save time, I tell Facebook who I want to see first. You know how you are technically following all your friends? By manually going to people's profiles and clicking on the following button, you can use a specific feature that allows you to change the way you see people's posts. 

I did this with all of the things I want to see first. This way, Facebook will throw all the pages, people, and content I care about right up top. By the time I get that little hint of dopamine, I would have also seen all the essential posts that I intentionally want to keep updated on. 

I even go so far as to click the advertisements that I would want to see more often. Why? Because I'm seeing ads whether I like it or not. Since I'm scrolling anyway, I might as well make sure I’m seeing ads for things I care about. While we're at it, get an ad-blocker on your desktop if you don't have one already. Save your eyes from subconscious brand awareness. 

Augment your Perception

This is where you want to improve your own habits and create healthy alternatives. Think about this analogy: if you want to take the elevator less, you don’t stop going to work, you take the stairs. By the same token, if you want to use social media less, don’t cut the cable, rewire it. I discussed Podcasts over Netflix, now I’m discussing LinkedIn over Facebook.

LinkedIn’s feed is curated by professionals you know and those whom they interact with. The people on LinkedIn don’t want the feel-good dog and cat videos. They write about the companies that are making changes, the people that exceeded their own boundaries, and why you need to get there too. People on this platform make you feel motivated. It’s a different kind of dopamine – its this feeling of “I want to do more”. This  motivating content is what we should share more. We don't want to waste each other's time and keep each other stagnant, so we need  to connect others and bring each other up.

If you want to use social media less, don’t cut the cable, rewire it.