In late 2019, I recorded a series of talks for “Tricycle” magazine, discussing how Buddhist tools can help us overcome social media and internet addiction. Although the talks didn’t go online until January of the following year, I decided to turn my notes into a series of articles—this introduction and five articles for each tool. I’ve expanded on what I said in those talks, adding insights I realized afterward.
I’ve struggled with social media addiction myself. Because of my teaching method, I spend a lot of time online. I carry a device around, commonly referred to as a “phone,” but I hardly ever use it for calls. Instead, it’s a glass portal to endless distractions. Over time, I found myself spending way too much time online, affecting my work and sleep. I would stay up late reading interesting articles, mostly on science and psychology, and deprive myself of sleep. Despite my love for reading books, I found it hard to focus on them, leading to a shallower life experience.
Adding to this were the “bonus” problems, such as getting involved in online disputes, which made me anxious and angry. Checking for likes and shares became a compulsion, leading to more suffering. Naturally, I asked myself, “How can my Buddhist practice help with my addiction to online activities?”
I’m sharing the tools that helped me in case you have similar issues. When these articles were written, I had mostly overcome my addictions, although I still found myself spending too much time on Twitter, which negatively affected my mental state. Fortunately, as I continued to practice these techniques, I managed to disengage from Twitter as well.
By social media addiction, I mean the compulsive use of social media despite its harmful effects. Compulsion makes it tough to stop and can cause powerful unpleasant feelings when trying to quit, often leading to shame and dishonesty about our addiction.
I use the term “social media” broadly to include not only platforms like Facebook and Twitter but also online games and compulsive news checking. While Buddha didn’t speak about the internet or social media specifically, he did offer advice on overcoming compelling patterns of thought and behavior. There’s a discourse, the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, which means the “Discourse on Quieting Thinking,” that provides a good overview of the tools he offered.
Vitakka means “thinking” and santhana means “end” or “cessation.” Thinking here includes the urges tied to those thoughts. Sometimes you may act on an urge without any verbal thought, like picking up your phone and opening a social media app without any inner dialogue.
The Vitakkasanthana Sutta is about letting go of unhelpful urges or habits. While most people think it relates to meditation, the principles can be applied to any context, including social media use. You could even call it the Social Media Sutra. The discourse offers five tools, suggesting you try the first one and move on to the next if it doesn’t work.
Here’s an overview of the five tools:
1. Pivoting Toward the Skillful: Change your attention to something positive or beneficial.
2. Examining the Drawbacks: Reflect on the negative consequences of your behavior.
3. Recalibrating Your Attention: Focus your mind on something neutral.
4. Redirecting Your Energy: Engage in physical activity or a hobby.
5. Encouraging Opposite Habits: Cultivate habits contrary to your addiction.
Each tool comes with an illustration. While some are engaging and instructive, others may not be immediately helpful. However, the five tools collectively offer an impressive means to overcome addictive behaviors and the accompanying anger and anxiety. I’ll go through each in turn, explaining Buddha’s insights and making the tools practical.
That’s it for today. I hope you enjoy this series of blog posts. If you notice any addictive patterns around your social media use, consider what suffering they cause and whether you can experiment with giving up social media for a short period. Notice what prevents you if you can’t, and observe your feelings if you do give it up—joy, relief, craving, anxiety.
It’s possible to reduce social media usage by treating it as a limited-time window and gradually decreasing the time spent on it. With enough willpower, we can definitely reduce our social media usage.
Bodhipaksa has published a series of six posts on mindful and self-compassionate tools for overcoming social media addiction. Applying these ancient texts to modern problems shows how the Dhamma is as relevant today as it was over two millennia ago. Thank you, Bodhipaksa.
Respectfully, I have a question. The translation of vitakka as ‘thinking’ does not align with my understanding, as it is often used to convey ‘initial application’ in the Abhidhamma. Can you shed light on this?
Hi, Thitadhammo.
Some people interpret vitakka and vicara as forms of attention, but I rely on the suttas for guidance. I use the terms the way I was taught and because it fits my experience of jhana. In the Kolita Sutta, the Buddha refers to noble silence with the stilling of vitakka & vicara, entering the second jhana. If first jhana were already silent, this wouldn’t make sense. In the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, vitakka appears to relate to thinking. Dhammadinna in the Culavedalla Sutta refers to vitakka and vicara as verbal fabrications, leading to speech. This suggests they refer to thinking rather than forms of attention.
I appreciate that if you have long-held views on this, you might not find this persuasive, but these are the sutta references that support my interpretation.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa