I’m ditching social media. Experts agree disconnecting is beneficial [Video]

Five days ago, I did something revolutionary for a Gen Zer: I deleted all the social media apps from my phone.

The constant ping of notifications and the pressure to share even the most insignificant moments of my day, instead of actually just living them, had become incredibly overstimulating. Social media dependency is a real problem, recent data shows. On average, Americans check their phones 144 times a day, according to a 2023 survey by Reviews.org.

So much of my free time throughout the day was consumed by mindless scrolling on the social media platform X and Instagram. I wanted to see how I could use that time differently.

My decision to step away from social media came hours after I interviewed George Jerjian, author of “Dare to Discover Your Purpose: Retire, Refire, Rewire” whose life changed after going on a 30-day silent retreat.

“I think in the noise-filled world that we live in, silence is a secret weapon. It’s a commodity that is …