In a series of posts, I explore how teachings from early Buddhist scriptures can help us break free from social media addiction. Specifically, I refer to the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, an ancient text that outlines five strategies for overcoming our compelling urges. This week, we’ll focus on the second tool, which is about examining the drawbacks of having an out-of-control mind.
This tool involves recognizing that certain thoughts are harmful and lead to suffering. The text provides a vivid image: Imagine a young person who loves dressing up. If a dead snake, dog, or human were hung around their neck, they’d be horrified and disgusted. This powerful image helps us understand the repulsive nature of certain thoughts and behaviors, including our addiction to social media.
We need to acknowledge the downsides of social media and our addiction to it. Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter are designed to be addictive, hooking into our brain’s reward circuits to keep us coming back for more. Features like endless scrolling, autoplaying videos, and notifications for likes and comments are all engineered to keep us engaged.
There’s substantial evidence of the negative impacts of social media. A 2019 study by Michigan State University and Monash University found that heavy Facebook users showed impaired decision-making skills similar to those addicted to drugs like cocaine or heroin. On average, people now spend about four hours a day on their phones, which negatively affects our mental health, making us anxious, depressed, and lonely. It fosters a false sense of inadequacy as we compare our lives to others’ seemingly perfect ones online.
Furthermore, social media is often used for social engineering and propaganda, influencing our political decisions without us even realizing it. For me, the main issue was the sheer amount of time wasted on these platforms. Time spent on social media could have been used for more meaningful activities like walking, meditating, or working. This wasted time is what we call the opportunity cost of social media.
Other disadvantages include staying up late staring at screens, reduced productivity due to constant interruptions, neglecting loved ones, and finding it hard to stay focused. This cycle of distraction and addiction is familiar to many of us.
The challenge with addiction is that it falsely promises happiness while causing harm. The Buddha described this phenomenon using the term “vipallasa,” which means cognitive distortion. We mistakenly believe that engaging in social media or online activities will make us happy, even though they actually contribute to our unhappiness.
One common fear associated with quitting social media is FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). When I considered deleting my Facebook account, I worried about losing touch with relatives, missing significant events, and not staying updated with the news. However, the less I used social media, the more content I became. I was more productive, meditated more, and could focus better on reading and other activities. This experience led to JOMO (Joy of Missing Out), where I found joy in being disconnected from social media.
The second tool from the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, examining the drawbacks of our addiction, helps us view our desires for social media more skeptically. We start to see these urges as false promises that won’t bring true happiness. Instead, we can focus on activities that genuinely enhance our well-being.
Returning to the Buddha’s image, social media addiction is like having a corpse draped around our necks—it’s something gross and repulsive. Recognizing the wholesome and good aspects of our lives makes the presence of such unskillful behavior even more out of place. Reflecting on the drawbacks of online addiction should be balanced with turning our attention to more wholesome activities like being present, meditating, and engaging in meaningful work.
As I disconnected from social media, I rediscovered the joys of reading, listening to classical music, and going for walks. These simple pleasures brought me a sense of peace and presence.
So, I’d suggest you create two lists: one for the drawbacks of social media and another for the wholesome activities you enjoy. When you find yourself engaging in addictive behaviors online, recall these lists. Develop a sense of “disgust” for the addiction but balance it with an attraction to wholesome activities. This approach helps us see our addictive behavior as something gross, giving us a clearer sense of who we are and how we want to live our lives. It helps undermine our addictive tendencies, making us freer, happier, and more in control of our minds.