If you’re anything like me, your New Year’s resolution routine generally consists of some scrambled brainstorming in December, feeling motivated in January, and then realizing partway through March that you’ve forgotten what exactly it is you were aiming to accomplish in the first place.
This year, though, I’m going to break that pattern (he says), as I’ve come to realize that one tech habit, in particular, is having wide-ranging effects on my life and dulling my senses as a tech writer.
If all goes to plan, 2025 will be the year I manage to keep social media apps off of my phone for good.
Some of my aims in this experiment are typical of any social media break; prioritizing the real world, reducing FOMO, and getting time back from doom-scrolling are all on the agenda.
However, while most people associate getting away from social media with getting away from our phones altogether, this doesn’t quite fit with my intentions this time around.
In my role as TechRadar’s Mobile Computing Staff Writer, I come across a lot of phones, and I still feel excited by each new handset I unbox. And as a tech journalist (as well as an appreciator of technology), it feels rewarding to get the best use possible from my phone, whether that’s stepping out to take some snaps with the ludicrous quad-camera system of the Oppo Find X8 Pro or reading articles on the large folding screen of the OnePlus Open.
However, social media often gets in the way of these plans with its tempting ocean of digital nonsense.
If I’m spending all my screen time scrolling through nonstop vertical videos, threads that end up going nowhere, and pictures of random influencers, then I’m equally not using that time to make the most of the supercomputer in my pocket.
In the past five years especially, it feels as if phones have accelerated from decently capable to truly powerful, with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max offering strong performance in AI, multitasking, and even creative work like image editing.
Modern chipsets like the A series from Apple and Snapdragon from Qualcomm are improving not just incrementally, but drastically each year, and with phones commonly sporting 8-16GB of RAM, there’s less distance than ever between mobile devices and conventional computers. It’s too much power to only be used for looking through the For You page.
It’s much easier to experience everything a phone has to offer if you get away from social media.
What’s more, the arrival of console-quality mobile games like Alien: Isolation, Dead Cells, and Death Stranding means there are plenty of worthwhile experiences during downtime as well.
That’s not to mention the photography and video capabilities of modern phones – getting away from the content production mindset that currently rules social media can make using these cameras feel less pressurized and more creative and personal.
So, there you have it: my hypothesis is that it’s much easier to experience everything a phone has to offer if you get away from social media, which – make no mistake – is designed to monopolize your attention.
I’ll still be checking messages and the occasional post on my laptop, where things are slower, less optimized, and generally less easy to get lost in, and if I end up returning to social media on my phone, no big deal – at least I’ll have given my dopamine receptors some much needed time off. The main goal here is to make the most out of the amazing devices we carry every day – I want to use social media less so I can use my phone more.
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jamie.richards@futurenet.com (Jamie Richards)
