Is social media really social? That’s the question two students at Brigham Young University asked themselves before coming up with a plan. 

Macy Dial had been on social media for a decade—half her life—before she decided she was done with it. Looking back on that decade, she saw how social media “fundamentally altered” her brain. 

“Anything beautiful or precious in life became an opportunity for a photo op,” she wrote. “I began to think in Instagram captions.” 

Dial said her push from social media came after reading a book called “4,000 Weeks” by Oliver Burkeman, a book about how we use our time. Dial said she realized how much time she was wasting on social media and decided it was time to make a change. 

Fellow BYU student Kristen Hansen also felt put-off by the social media she’d grown up with. So, they teamed up to encourage Gen Zers to get off social apps and experience the shock for themselves. 

“But the more research we did, the more we realized, like, just what a big piece of the puzzle digital wellness was, and how much social media and excessive technology use was impacting, like the mental health of Gen Z and just young people in society at large,” Dial said. 

They call the movement “Summer Off Socials”—participants will ditch at least one social media app and replace it with in-person connections. To help push participants in the right direction, Summer Off Socials will send out weekly texts with challenges, like going for a 30-minute phoneless walk, calling a long-distance friend or meeting someone new. The initiative launched June 1 and already has approximately 500 participants. 

According to reports, the average Gen Zers typically spend up to seven hours on screens every day. Dozens of efforts have been made to curb screen time through usage tracking apps, time limit settings and even a 3D-printed brick that temporarily removes apps from your phone. 

Hansen and Dial aren’t necessarily expecting participants to swear off social media forever, but they do hope people become more thoughtful about their digital choices. 

There are obviously some drawbacks to living off social media. You may not stay with current trends or slang, and some small businesses only post updates on social media. Plus, you’ll definitely miss out on some life updates. 

“There’s definitely a cost to being out of touch in this way,” Dial wrote. “Without social media, I feel like I’ve lost a certain cultural cachet. I’ve missed life updates from friends. I miss the creative and funny content.”

Dial said the pros to leaving social media far outweighed the cons, including her newfound peace of mind and the amount of time she now has. 

Maybe someday there will be a mass exodus off social media, but for now, Dial and Hansen are encouraging people to take a break. λ