In late 2019, I recorded a series of talks for “Tricycle” magazine about how Buddhist practices can help us overcome social media and internet addiction. While the talks didn’t go online until January of the next year, I decided to turn my notes into a series of articles. There are six articles in total—an introduction and one article on each of the five tools.
I’ve expanded on my talks, adding thoughts that came to me after the presentations. Here are the links to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
I admit that I used to be a social media addict. My teaching style requires me to spend a lot of time online, which led me to frequently get sucked into social media. Like most people, I carry around a device that we call a “phone,” although I rarely use it for calls. Instead, it’s a glass portal to endless distractions.
Being online so much, I often wasted too much time on the internet. My work suffered, and I’d stay up late reading fascinating articles, mostly on science and psychology. While the content was good, I couldn’t stop reading and ended up losing sleep. Even though I’ve always loved books, my internet habits affected my ability to focus on reading. Life felt shallower without the deep immersion of book reading.
There were also other problems, like getting involved in online disputes. These would make me angry and anxious, my heart pounding whenever I logged into social media. I craved attention and often checked if my posts were liked or shared. These behaviors, of course, were forms of suffering.
Since I dislike suffering, I naturally wondered how my Buddhist practice could help with my online addiction.
I’ll share some tools that helped me, hoping they might also help you if you face similar issues. By the time I wrote these articles, I had mostly overcome my addictions, though I still struggled with spending too much time on Twitter, which affected my mental health. Thankfully, the techniques I’ll discuss helped me disengage from Twitter as well.
What do I mean by social media addiction? I mean the compulsive use of social media despite its harmful effects on ourselves and others. Compulsion means we feel out of control and struggle to stop ourselves. The idea of quitting might even cause unpleasant feelings. Usually, compulsion leads to shame, and we become dishonest about our addiction.
I use “social media” broadly, not just for sites like Facebook or Twitter. My points might also apply to those addicted to online games or compulsively checking the news.
The Buddha didn’t say anything about the internet or social media, but he spoke a lot about dealing with and overcoming compelling patterns of thought and behavior. One discourse, the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, offers a great overview of tools for quieting the mind. Vitakka means “thinking,” and santhana means “resting place,” implying “end” or “stopping.”
In this context, “thinking” includes the urges entangled with thoughts. Sometimes you act on an urge without any verbal thought—like picking up your phone and opening a social media app without inner talk. This urge is what the Buddha would consider a “thought.” The discourse is about letting go of unhelpful urges or habits.
Many think the Vitakkasanthana Sutta is about quieting unhelpful urges during meditation, but it doesn’t specifically mention meditation. Its principles can apply to any aspect of life, including social media use. You could think of it as the Social Media Sutta.
The discourse offers five tools. It suggests starting with the first one and moving to the next if the previous one doesn’t work.
Here’s an overview of the five tools:
Each tool comes with an illustration. Some are engaging and instructive, while others might not seem immediately helpful. The five approaches provide a strong set of tools for overcoming addictive behaviors and the associated anger and anxiety. I’ll discuss each one, sharing what the Buddha said and making the tools practical.
That’s it for today. I hope you’ll enjoy this series of blog posts.
Notice any addictive patterns around your social media use. What suffering does it cause? How does your compulsion manifest? Can you experiment with giving up social media for a day or two? If you can’t, what’s stopping you? What’s your experience if you do take a break? Do you feel joy, relief, craving, or anxiety?
Consider taking short breaks to reduce social media use gradually. Implementing this simple yet challenging practice can help you cut down on social media time.
Bodhipaksa has published a series of posts on mindful and self-compassionate tools for overcoming social media addiction. Applying ancient texts to modern problems, he shows that the Dhamma remains relevant today. Thank you, Bodhipaksa.