I’m quitting social media in 2024. Care to join me?

Mel Torrefranca

2 Jan 202408:49

Summary

TLDRThe speaker introduces her new challenge - 'The No Scroll Club', where she and 37 others have committed to staying off social media for the entire year of 2024. She shares the reasons why many have joined, such as regaining productivity, attention span, and meaningful connections. Reflecting on her own experience of quitting Instagram for two months, she found herself more focused, happier, and with more free time. However, she succumbed to the fear of missing out during her book launch, leading her to rejoin. Determined to reclaim those benefits, she invites viewers to join the challenge, providing steps to get started. With a mix of personal anecdotes and a call to action, the speaker aims to inspire others to break free from the endless cycle of social media scrolling.

Takeaways

😊 The speaker is taking a challenge to stay off social media for the entire year of 2024, joining a community called the 'No Scroll Club'.
🌱 After previously taking a break from social media, the speaker experienced improved productivity, well-being, and focus, inspiring this year-long challenge.
📵 The challenge involves leaving most social media platforms, with potential exceptions for creation, education, work, or communication purposes.
📨 The speaker recommends joining valuable newsletters as an alternative to staying updated through social media.
🧠 Many people cited reasons like diminished productivity, well-being, and innovation for joining the 'No Scroll Club'.
⏰ The speaker aims to reclaim free time and break the cycle of endless scrolling through this challenge.
🔗 The speaker encourages others to join the challenge and provides a link to sign up for the 'No Scroll Club'.
💻 Practical steps are outlined, such as listing social media accounts, identifying exceptions, messaging contacts, and deleting apps.
📺 While leaving most platforms, the speaker plans to continue posting YouTube videos with restrictions to avoid distractions.
🎥 The video is intentionally casual and unpolished, reflecting the speaker's desire to make joining the challenge as easy as possible.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?
-The main purpose of the video is to introduce and encourage people to join the 'No Scroll Club', a challenge to stay off social media for the entire year of 2024.
Why did the creator decide to create the 'No Scroll Club'?
-The creator decided to create the 'No Scroll Club' after realizing the negative impact of excessive social media usage on productivity, well-being, and creativity. They found that taking a break from social media for 2 months led to significant improvements in their life, prompting the idea for the challenge.
What exceptions are allowed in the 'No Scroll Club'?
-The video outlines four exceptions: (A) Creation - continuing to post content but not scrolling or engaging, (B) Education - using specific platforms solely for educational purposes, (C) Work - using platforms required for work, and (D) Communication - using chat-based apps like WhatsApp or Messenger.
What steps are recommended to get started with the 'No Scroll Club' challenge?
-The recommended steps are: (1) List all social media platforms used, (2) Identify any exceptions, (3) Message people to stay in touch, (4) Join valuable newsletters, and (5) Leave social media accounts (except for exceptions) by logging out and deleting apps.
Why did the creator mention reading books and engaging in physical activities during their 2-month social media break?
-The creator mentioned reading books, swimming, stretching, and being more active socially to highlight the positive changes and habits they developed during their 2-month break from social media, emphasizing the potential benefits of the challenge.
What role did the book 'Night Shift Academy' play in the creator's decision to rejoin social media?
-The creator mentioned feeling a fear of missing out (FOMO) when their book 'Night Shift Academy' was released, as they wanted to witness any reviews, pictures, or discussions about it on Instagram. This FOMO led them to redownload Instagram and subsequently lose the positive habits they had developed during their social media break.
What Chrome extensions did the creator mention for managing their YouTube usage?
-The creator mentioned using two Chrome extensions: 'Goodbye Metrics' to hide view counts and subscriber counts, and 'Unhook' to limit the YouTube front-end by blocking elements like YouTube Shorts, the homepage, and suggested videos.
What alternative did the creator suggest for staying up-to-date with favorite authors, speakers, or influencers?
-The creator suggested signing up for valuable newsletters as an alternative to relying on social media, as it allows curating a personalized media feed without ads or recommended content that can waste time.
Why did the creator mention filming the video in a sloppy manner?
-The creator mentioned filming the video in a sloppy manner on their phone intentionally, to make the process as easy as possible for themselves, as they were exhausted from editing the video until 5:30 AM.
What did the creator aim to create with the 'No Scroll Club' challenge?
-The creator aimed to create a reverse FOMO (fear of missing out) with the 'No Scroll Club' challenge, where people would feel FOMO for not being part of the challenge and leaving social media.

Outlines

00:00

👋 Introduction to the No Scroll Challenge

The speaker introduces the No Scroll Challenge, where they aim to stay off social media for the entire year of 2024. They explain the reasons behind this challenge, including negative effects of social media on productivity, well-being, attention span, and comparison with others. The speaker also shares their own experience of being more productive and happier during a previous 2-month break from social media. The No Scroll Club is an email community committed to breaking the cycle of endless scrolling.

05:00

🚀 Steps to Get Started with the No Scroll Challenge

The speaker provides five steps to get started with the No Scroll Challenge: 1) List all social media platforms being used, 2) Identify exceptions for specific purposes (creation, education, work, communication), 3) Message people to stay in touch, 4) Join valuable newsletters as an alternative to social media, 5) Leave social media accounts (except for identified exceptions). The speaker also mentions using Chrome extensions to limit distractions on YouTube while continuing to post content. They encourage viewers to join the challenge and leave social media with them, creating a 'reverse FOMO' effect.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Social Media

Social media refers to websites and applications that allow users to create, share, and interact with content, as well as connect and communicate with others. In the video, social media is the central theme, as the narrator discusses her decision to leave social media platforms for the entire year of 2024. Examples of social media mentioned include Instagram, which the narrator had been using extensively for 8 years, and YouTube, which she plans to use for creating content but not for consuming content.

💡Digital Minimalism

Digital minimalism is a concept introduced by Cal Newport, which involves intentionally limiting one's use of digital tools and technologies to only what is essential and valuable. The narrator mentions reading Newport's book "Digital Minimalism" as the catalyst that made her realize the potential unimportance of social media and motivated her to take a break from it.

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the effectiveness and efficiency with which work or tasks are completed. Several people quoted in the video mention how social media negatively impacts their productivity, either by consuming too much time or by acting as a constant distraction. The narrator herself experienced increased productivity during her initial 2-month break from social media.

💡Well-being

Well-being refers to a state of overall physical, mental, and emotional health and happiness. Many people in the video express concerns about how social media negatively affects their well-being, causing issues such as diminished self-esteem, lack of focus, and a sense of disconnection from real life. The narrator aims to improve her well-being by leaving social media for the year.

💡FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

FOMO, or the fear of missing out, is the anxiety or feeling of apprehension that one might miss out on experiences, events, or opportunities, particularly those shared or discussed on social media. The narrator acknowledges experiencing FOMO when her book was released, leading her to redownload Instagram, and mentions trying to create a "reverse FOMO" to motivate others to join her social media break.

💡No Scroll Club

The "No Scroll Club" is a community or group that the narrator has created, consisting of people who have committed to leaving social media for the entire year of 2024. The club aims to help its members break free from the "endless cycle of social media scrolling" and reclaim their time and focus.

💡Exceptions

Exceptions refer to specific circumstances or purposes for which the narrator and members of the No Scroll Club may continue using certain social media platforms, albeit with strict limitations and restrictions. These exceptions include creation (e.g., posting content on YouTube), education, work requirements, and communication (e.g., using messaging apps).

💡Newsletters

Newsletters are periodic publications or updates sent via email, often by individuals, organizations, or businesses. The narrator suggests that one way to stay informed without social media is to subscribe to valuable newsletters from authors, speakers, or influencers, as an alternative to passively consuming content on social media feeds.

💡Attention Span

Attention span refers to the length of time an individual can concentrate on a particular task or activity without becoming distracted. Several people quoted in the video express concerns about their diminishing attention spans due to the constant distractions and stimuli provided by social media platforms.

💡Comparison

Comparison refers to the act of evaluating or judging oneself in relation to others. One of the quotes in the video mentions feeling "diminished" and "hollowed out" due to constantly comparing one's life to the curated representations on social media, highlighting the negative impact of social comparison on self-esteem and well-being.

Highlights

The speaker is starting a challenge to stay off social media for the entire year of 2024.

The speaker introduces the 'no scroll club', an email community committed to breaking the cycle of social media scrolling, with 37 people initially signing up.

Members of the club share reasons for joining, such as social media affecting productivity, well-being, attention span, and creative thinking.

The speaker shares their personal experience of leaving Instagram for 2 months, leading to increased reading, physical activity, productivity, and overall happiness.

However, the speaker eventually returned to Instagram due to the fear of missing out (FOMO) on book-related content and promotion.

The speaker outlines five steps to get started on the 'no scroll' journey, including listing social media platforms, identifying exceptions, messaging contacts, joining valuable newsletters, and leaving accounts (minus exceptions).

Exception A is for creation, allowing the speaker to continue posting content on YouTube with restrictions to prevent scrolling.

Exception B is for education, allowing the use of specific platforms solely for learning purposes.

Exception C is for work, permitting the use of required social media platforms for professional reasons.

Exception D is for communication, allowing the use of chat-based apps like Discord, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

The speaker encourages viewers to join the 'no scroll' challenge and leave social media, aiming to create a 'reverse FOMO' effect.

The speaker plans to create more videos on the topic of social media and invites viewers to share questions or thoughts in the comments.

The speaker mentions reading 'Digital Minimalism' and 'Deep Work' by Cal Newport, which inspired their journey away from social media.

The speaker highlights the benefits of being off social media, such as increased reading, physical activity, productivity, social life, and overall happiness.

The speaker acknowledges the potential challenges of staying off social media, such as FOMO and the need for promotion, which led them back to using Instagram.