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Course: Social media literacy > Unit 3

Lesson 7: Take action! Take control of your social media use
Life skills
Social media literacy
Persuasive technology
Take action! Take control of your social media use
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Activity: Set your goals

Google Classroom
Start shifting your social media use for good

What’s the best way to get started?

There are lots of reasons to take control of your social media use. Before diving into exactly how you’ll make a change, it’s important to get clear about why you want to make a change.
Four people standing with arms around each other, facing away from the camera, on a mountaintop looking at the sunset
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GET CLEAR ABOUT YOUR “WHY”:

These questions will help you think about the possibilities you want to open up by shifting your tech use. Your answers will be the foundation for what you do next.
  1. What are some reasons that you use social media?
  2. What are some unwanted impacts that social media has on your life?
  3. What do you wish you had more time for in your day-to-day life?
  4. What big goals are you working toward that you would like to have more time and energy for?
  5. Are there behaviors and/or relationships you would like to improve? Now look at your answers. Taking back control means that you get only the things you really need from social media and aren’t distracted by the things that you don’t. It means making time for what really matters to you.
Sometimes that means you log on to social media for a specific purpose, logging off right afterward. Sometimes it means you use social media less. And sometimes it means you replace social media with other ways of communicating that don’t try to hijack your attention.
Now that you have a sense of why you’d like to shift your social media use, it’s time to look at how you can make changes. Consider Adelina’s experiences:
"I would go through periods where I would have kept the app off my phone for weeks, only to decide to download it late one night, and not be able to delete it for another month. The app made me feel so horrible, but somehow I could not stop."
-Adelina, 14, Scottsdale, United States
Because social media is designed to keep you coming back, stories like Adelina’s are common. Even with the best intentions, we can have weak moments and get sucked back in. That’s why it’s important to set realistic, attainable goals. It’s also helpful to tackle goals with the help of friends or family—we’ll discuss that later in this lesson.
A photograph of a red dart stuck in the bullseye on a target
For some, totally eliminating social media is an attainable goal. But for others, something more specific may be helpful. To set a goal that works for you, think about:
  • Is my goal about a set period of time? For example:
    • I will stay off of my phone from dinnertime to bedtime.
    • I will stay off of social media on Saturdays.
  • Is my goal about specific habits on a specific platform? For example:
    • I will stop using streaks on Snapchat.
    • I will turn off notifications on Instagram.
    • I will limit my screen time on TikTok to an hour a week.
  • Do I want to totally eliminate a platform from my life? Or just significantly reduce time on specific platforms? For example:
    • I will remove TikTok from my phone for good.
    • I will track my screen time on Instagram for a week and then work to reduce it.
  • Is my goal about working to change my behavior online? For example:
    • My goal is to be more compassionate when I’m online.
    • Whenever I’m about to post, I will take a deep breath and think about why I’m posting, and what the person on the other side of the screen might be experiencing.
  • Consider what you’re replacing social media with, and keep your “why” in mind. For example:
    • Instead of using Snapchat, I will message my friends when I want to chat with them. By pulling back from getting sucked into Snapchat, I will be able to focus on getting better at basketball.
    • I will finish using my phone by 8:00 PM to give my mind more time to wind down and get a good night's sleep.
  • Do I want to try out my goal for a short amount of time, or is it something I think I can do for longer? For example:
    • I will remove TikTok from my phone for two weeks and then reflect on what the best goal is for me for the long-term.
What’s important is that you’re setting a strong goal that works best for you.

🎯 ACTIVITY: SET YOUR GOAL(S):‍

  1. Write out your goal(s) in detail.
  2. Keep your list of goals someplace prominent in your life: above your desk, on your fridge, or in your go-to notebook.

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