aeudt - Tumblr blog

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Help & Be Helped: Combatting Social Media Addiction

Sunday, 7/02/2023

We want to thank everyone for participating in our social media detox challenge and supporting our campaign! On this Tumblr, we talked about a variety of things about social media addiction. Now it's time to take everything you have learned and provide or get some help!

Combatting social media addiction is not a one-person thing. We need to do this together. Therefore, please make sure to share this Tumblr with those you may believe are struggling with social media addiction.

[aeudt]

The Importance of Staying Connected to Reality

Saturday, 7/01/2023 - 5:00 PM

Social media can be used as a means to escape reality. Just like playing video games, watching tv shows, or reading books. However, we must not neglect our reality, but find healthy ways to approach the problems in our lives.

The more we run away from our problems with social media, the more difficult it is to connect with what matters in our lives. It's time to face the things troubling us. So how do you start? Ask for help! Seek guidance! You cannot do this on your own, and something I recommend is connecting with a therapist. However, I do understand that it may be difficult to do so. But, you can also reach out to a friend and a loved one and start small.

Another way is practicing some mindfulness techniques and taking the time to organize and sort your thoughts. You can walk, journal, practice breathing exercises, and much more. Whatever you do, you must be in touch with yourself and reality. One of my favorite techniques is mindfulness meditation! Here is a 5-minute mindfulness meditation video:

If we are willing to scroll on social media for hours, we can take the time to stay grounded in reality.

Here are some helpful links:

[aeudt]

Social Media Addiction and its Impact On Mental Health

Wednesday, 6/28/2023 - 5:00 PM

While the use of social media can be utilized for good purposes, it still has harmful effects on individuals when overused. In particular, social media addiction has a negative impact on individuals' mental health..

For one, it can cause various feelings of anxiety, depression, isolation, FOMO, and additional attachment to social media. One significant role of social media can be seen as a space for comparison. A comparison of ourselves and others. If we take Instagram for example, the purpose of this platform is to share well-edited photos and videos. Essentially, it is a space to curate images about our lives. Sometimes the images that appear aren't always what it seems. However, we can't always tell, can we?

Take a look at this video and the effects of comparison on social media:

There is this constant need to acquire a specific amount of likes or followers, however, if those expectations aren't met, there will be dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Have you ever felt this way before?

I know I have, and let me tell you the feeling isn't great. We need to draw the line against social media and its control over our lives. I want to confirm with you, that your worth is not based on how many likes or followers you have. You may see someone who looks well-established on social media but do not be fooled. They might be going through some struggles that you can't see. I want to share a Ted Talk by Bailey Parnell, that really hit homes for me. It is a bit long, but it is worth the watch!

To summarize, we need to take the time to recognize the problem. We cannot let social media rule us to the point that we lose ourselves mentally. If you need some assistance, please feel free to contact us!

Here are some useful links:

[aeudt]

Productive Things to Do Instead of Being on Social Media

Tuesday, 6/27/2023 - 5:00 PM

Letting go of social media is hard, especially when it has been ingrained in every aspect of your life. You may be asking, what do I do now?

Taking the time away from social media allows you to explore things about yourself in a way that you haven't before. The first thing to do, is making a list for yourself. Write down your interests, hobbies, likes, and dislikes. Write down things you've done before and things you haven't done before. Then make a plan, try to do something on your list at least once or twice a week. It can be as small as going for a walk or doing a picnic. If you need some inspiration, here is a list of things that you can do:

Create a vision board of all the things you want to call into your life

Learn a new language

Do a deep breathing exercise

Read a book

Free write

Make a gratitude list

Volunteer

Join a book club

Mini Roadtrip

There is a variety of things to do beyond social media. You just need to take the initiative to do something. If you would like some accountability and take the first step to detox social media, join our Social Media Detox Challenge!!

Take some time each day, up to Saturday, July 1st, away from social media! Do something that you written down, or from the list above! You can share what you have done on our IG and TikTok pages @aeudt Make sure to include the hashtag #AEUDTdetox

Those who participate in this challenge will have a chance to win a 4 night trip with Getaway House! This will allow you to take some time to disconnect, spend time alone, or with a loved one!

We will contact the winner on Sunday, July 2nd!

Here are some useful links to come up with ideas to do something new:

[aeudt]

Breaking Social Media Habits

Sunday, 6/25/2023 - 5:00 PM

Taking the steps to breaking social media habits can be a scary and an uncomfortable process. This is due to the fact of how dependent one has become on social media. Before I continue, I wanted to share with you a video by Chris Williamson with Dr. Andrew Huberman on the impact of social media on our brain:

This video further the point that social media is innately made to be addictive. It satisfies our need to be liked and have a popular online presence. Don't get me wrong, wanting to be liked isn't bad, but being obsessed with it can be.

Breaking the cycle of social media addiction is hard. I can attest to that! But where do you start?

You start small! If you try to break it off completely in one moment, more than likely you will fail or at least struggle to be consistent. Try taking 30 minutes a day away from social media and do something productive. Set a reminder if you have to! And from there gradually increase the time!

If you would like to start from somewhere,

Join @AEUDT for a 7 day Social Media Detox challenge. Make sure to document your experience and @AEUDT on the last day! Also use the #AEUDTdetox And if you would like, send us a testimony of your experience through the challenge! For this challenge, we decided to partner with @getawathouse with 4 nights stay in one of their cabins! This will give the selected winner time to disconnect and be present in the moment! If you participate, you will have a chance to win! (Winner will be selected at random on Sunday July 3rd)

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We are looking forward to your participation, and if you have any questions or comments, please let us know!

[aeudt]

Recognizing the Signs of Social Media Addiction

Saturday, 6/24/2023 - 5:00 PM

When you are in the moment, sometimes it is hard to recognize certain struggles or negative habits you may have. Let's be honest, probably half of the viewers here may not think they have social media addiction. But today I want to challenge that notion.

For one, it takes a lot of humility and self-reflection to be honest where you are at. So, here is how you can recgonize the signs of social media addiction. Take a look at the list below and see if it applies to you:

You check social media first thing in the morning

You are constantly checking how your post performs

You spend a lot of time overthinking and planning your posts

(This one is my favorite) You think you hear a notification from your phone, when in reality it didn't

Now be honest, can you relate to this?

I'll go first, I know I can! Ironically enough, social media has a lot of aspects that are naturally addicting. Let's take Instagram for example, the purpose of this platform is to share your posts, gain likes, comments, and followers. Let me give a personal example, after every post I made, I used to anxiously look to see how many likes I recieved. And depending on the likes, I...

[aeudt]

What is Social Media Addiction?

Wednesday, 6/21/2023 - 5:00 PM

We live in a day and age where the use of social media is at an all-time high. If you are not using Twitter or Facebook, you are most likely using Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, and if you are reading this, Tumblr. Whether that may be the case or not, did you know that 4.48 billion people use social media worldwide? Additionally that the average amount of social media accounts is 8.4 per person?

We practically have social media ingrained into our everyday life. Now let me introduce you to social media addiction...

According to experts social media addiction is a behavioral addiction that is characterized as being overly concerned about social media. It is driven by an uncontrollable urge to log on to or use social media. Someone with social medi addiction devotes a lot of their time and effort to social media, that it impairs other areas in their lives.

Sheesh, that sounds like a lot right?

So how do you know if you have social media addiction?

Come back on Saturday to find out!!

[aeudt]

Tuesday, 6/20/2023 - 5:00 PM

Thank you for checking out our blog! Here is a video that introduces who we are!!