By: Ben Salaman, Strategist-Type

I’m a 90’s kid, or “digital native” in marketing speak. My generation has been at the forefront of the cultural shift in how we engage, expecting interactions to be instantaneous and transparent. It feels like I’ve lived two vastly different lives in the span of a decade.

Two years ago, I took a break from social media. This decision came as a surprise to many of my colleagues — “why in the world would a strategist, someone who’s charged with being the voice of the consumer and keeping their finger on the pulse of culture, decide to disconnect from the highly influential digital social sphere?”

Mental health was a massive driver. I felt entangled in an endless cycle of comparing my life to those I saw on my feeds; always seeking something unattainable. Even though I was living my childhood dream of owning a powerful handheld computer, I somehow still felt like there was an endless void in my life. And I’m not alone.

Feeds Rule Everything Around Me (F.R.E.A.M.)

On average, consumers spend 145 minutes per day on social media. That is 882 hours or 36 full days each year that an average person scrolls through their timelines. And the time people spend on these platforms is only increasing. It’s not just the attention social media garners that’s stunning. It’s the silent influence it carries. 81% of consumers admit their decision-making was at one point influenced by their friends’ posts on social media.

At the same time, one in three digital natives, like myself, consider social media use to be harmful to mental health. That number gets even more frightening for younger generations, as the rates of adolescents reporting symptoms of major depression grew by 63% from 2009 to 2017, the same time the rate of social media adoption exponentially increased. These troubling trends are reaching a point where they can’t be ignored anymore.

An Ironic Revelation: My Step Back Can Push Brands Forward.

To my surprise, my social media hiatus has turned out to be an ironically enlightening experience as a strategist. By taking this step back, rather than leaning further in, I’ve learned more about myself, what humans crave and where brands have untapped opportunities.

There’s still joy in the little things.

During the first few weeks of giving up social media, I began catching myself reaching for my phone. It was like my brain built a subconscious response to boredom by jumping into an app to alleviate a moment of dullness. I actually had a dependency on social media — a concept that didn’t truly click for me until I was talking to one of my parents who gave up smoking. They described how they also subconsciously reached for their pack of smokes non-stop, even though they weren’t there.

Early on in ‘feed cutting’, I lost my ability to entertain myself without my phone. Very quickly, I was left no other option but to find joy in other avenues. I began listening to music, not as background noise, but actually listening. I began making non-weather related conversation with strangers during my commute. I soaked in gorgeous views of Seattle’s skyline instead of sharing it on Instagram. I began getting a sense of fulfillment from seemingly minuscule moments that I never felt during the time I was heavily invested in social media.

Brands can catalyze that behavior — reminding people to look up and embrace the smaller things in life. IKEA’s Wonderful Everday ad nailed this concept in an extremely relatable way. Brands can take it a step further — not only reminding us to enjoy smaller moments but activating or emphasizing them for us.

It’s nice to be alone with our thoughts.

Logging onto social media, I often felt I was getting pelted with people’s beliefs, frustrations, and issues. It became mentally taxing for me to consume and subconsciously take on the stress and frustration of my network. Ironically it was difficult to detach at first — finding solace in my feeds whenever I had to think deeply about something difficult in my own mind. It highlighted that, at times, I was using social media as a crutch to hide from my own life.

Brands have an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the moments when we all need to take a step back. The 24-hour news cycle and rapidly evolving culture makes finding the right moments to engage with consumers more influential than ever. Calm nailed the power of moments with its spots during the presidential debate and accompanying micro-moments on social media giving consumers the much-needed reminder to look up and take a breath.

Inspiration is everywhere; seriously.

Before stepping back, much of my inspiration and news came from my highly personalized, algorithmically-fueled timelines. The step back pushed me out of my comfort zone to find new ways to keep connected with culture. I read more magazines and books. I picked up the guitar. I even tried ice hockey for the first time — something that’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I quickly discovered that I didn’t need a customized catalog of content to inspire me. In fact, all social feeds did was allow me to watch others do the things I’d only dream about doing.

Brands can nudge us to explore and actually do things, maybe even for the first time. We’ve come to expect instant gratification, which leads to quick frustration if things aren’t easy. Nike leaned into the idea of discovery instead of perfection in its Play New ad, reminding people we can still have fun, even if we suck at what we’re trying to do.

Embrace the “real.”

At times, it felt like I was maintaining two lives: the real one, and the digital one — posing for what will get the most engagement from peers. In fact, we’ve started prioritizing the maintenance of our digital life, at the expense of experiencing and sharing our real one. It’s an actual fact that people admit they won’t be caught dead wearing the same outfit twice on their profile, as it could damage their highly-curated digital image.

What if we flipped this behavior on its head — showing people the investment made behind the scenes results in what they see online? It’s the journey and process, not the destination. Look at Under Armour’s ad with Michael Phelps — it shows what happens behind the scenes is what matters.

My friends and family always find a way to ask me: “So when is this social media hiatus over? You feel like a stranger!” If I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s much of a break anymore. Sure, I appreciate all the funny videos, music, or sports articles people text me — I’ll even share some content occasionally. And I still enjoy observing the creative ways brands have activated themselves on digital platforms. But none of that could replace the mental fortitude and knowledge I’ve gained in my time away from the timelines, stories and news feeds. We could all use a taste of the days when VHS-winding and magazine-flipping were a thing, whether we realize it or not.