Entry 9: Social Media is EXHAUSTING

Hello! Welcome back to Sincerely, Courtney. I didn’t write a post last week because, truthfully, I was tired and didn’t really know what to write about. My goal is to post every week, but sometimes I don’t really know what to say and don’t want to sound repetitive.

This week I want to talk about how exhausting social media is. I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was check my phone and scroll through my notifications. Then I scrolled on TikTok until I got the TikTok that told me I had been scrolling for too long. I hate to admit it, but I get that TikTok more than I’d like to admit. As I was scrolling, I was fed TikTok Shop ads, the newest summer clothes I “need” to buy, a free trip influencers were sent on, and countless other things. After I had seen four ads back to back, I realized I was sick of it. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Earlier this week, I was scrolling on Instagram and after about two minutes, I realized I hadn’t come across a single post from someone I actually followed. They were all ads, accounts Instagram thought I’d like to see, and just nonsense. All I wanted to see were posts from people I actually knew. I miss the old Instagram, now it just feels like a constant ad for what my life should look like and the things I need to buy in order to make it happen.

I use social media 24/7 and am absolutely addicted to it. If I really sit down and think about it, I’ve been addicted since freshman year of high school because that’s when I got Instagram. In high school, my vices were Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Then freshman year of college came around and TikTok got added to that list. Unfortunately, none of this has changed except I don’t really use Snapchat at all. Freshman year of high school I was 14 years old, which means I have been addicted to this social‑media serotonin hit for nearly 12 years—almost half of my life.

I have met a couple of people who have deleted some or even all of their social media accounts, and every single time I tell them, “Wow, good for you, I could never do that.” And truthfully, yes I can. Social media is so exhausting. I am genuinely tired from it. This is the most first‑world problem ever, but it’s true. Every single day I see the exact same types of posts from different accounts, and everyone is hoping theirs will go viral. Everybody wants to be an influencer and honestly, me too. Who wouldn’t want that? For one week I consistently posted some stuff on TikTok, and although it was fun, it was also so much more work than I expected. Having to take extra time out of every task you’re doing to record, then edit it all, then post it. That wasn’t even the hardest part, it was constantly checking my phone to see how many likes and views I received. I was craving that instant gratification and subconsciously hoping that this would be the one. I think people who post on social media and have been able to make a living off their content are so cool, and I should give them more credit. Now please keep in mind, at the end of the day, their jobs cannot be compared to anyone who works a 9–5, is a teacher, works in the medical field, or anyone who just has a normal job. When I am saying it is hard, take that with a huge grain of salt because obviously it isn’t HARD—it’s “hard” (Hope that makes sense.)

Another thing that exhausts me is AI. I am SICK of seeing AI in every single thing I do. Scrolling on social media, trying to write an email, watching TV, scrolling through my photos—literally everything. Every single app and company has adopted AI in some way, shape, or form, and I am genuinely fatigued from it. I am tired of this tool being shoved down all of our throats. Can AI be beneficial? Yes. But it is a pain in my ass, and I think it can be incredibly harmful. I think AI is making us lose our ability to research on our own, decreasing our creativity, and probably even making some people dumber (if I’m being very honest). I am worried to see how the world will be changed in the long term because of AI. We’ve all seen the negative environmental impacts it has, but I think it’ll greatly impact our literacy and education standards, similar to how COVID negatively impacted kids who were in elementary and middle school. Although it can be incredibly helpful, I think it can eventually be more harmful.

I understand the irony of all this considering I promote this blog on social media. But this is where I think social media can be a positive and fun thing. I love seeing the cool and fun things people are doing, and I always want to support that. But where social media is frustrating is when I’m constantly being shown things to buy or ways I should change my life.

Now that I’m noticing how much social media is currently being negative in my life, I need to make a change. I have tried using that timer app before where it locks you out of an app once you’ve exceeded the allotted amount of time you put on it. It worked every once in a while, but I usually just put in the code to let myself back in again so I could continue scrolling. I need to hold myself more accountable and actually follow the screen‑time allotment. I need to stop checking my phone first thing in the morning and scrolling at night before I go to bed. I need to spend more time doing other hobbies I enjoy, such as reading, cross‑stitching, and working out. There are so many other things that don’t include social media that have far more positive effects. Will I continue using social media? Obviously. I’m human. But I need to find better ways to moderate my social media intake. If you’ve been feeling the same way recently, maybe try doing the same thing as me.

The only cross stick I’ve done but it was so much fun.

Sincerely,

Courtney