When Madison Richter, a junior from Ohio majoring in peacebuilding, took a three-month break from social media, she said it gave her the chance to take up film photography with a film camera her grandpa gave her. She said this helped her realize social media creates distance between the real world and what social media captures and displays for everyone to see.
“I feel like taking photos is supposed to be capturing the moment. But with a smartphone, [people] take a bunch of photos and are trying to create this perfect moment that's not that moment. It's [their] projections of how that moment is supposed to be remembered,” Richter explained.
She said using a film camera taught her to learn to enjoy the moment. “With film photography, if you see something that catches your eye and you choose to take a photo of it, that's your one shot. That's how that moment is going to be remembered.”
BYU–Hawaii students said although social media can be very distracting, it can also be used to find peace in connection, especially when they are far from their loved ones.
Social media creates connections
Mele Tu'iono said when she turned 21, it was hard to be away from family because her birthday was a big event that should have been celebrated with her loved ones. She said social media helped her feel connected to her family even though they were far apart. “I celebrated online, and that helps me feel like there is no distance between us.”
Christal Lee, a senior from the Philippines majoring in visual arts, was 5,000 miles apart from her fiance, Lou-J Jover from the Philippines, while she is studying at BYUH. She said social media helped them keep their connection.
“We are healed when we study the scriptures together,” she explained, adding how they find peace and strengthen each other through social media because it allows them to still do things together as a couple.
Tu'iono said she can still do the things she did with her family at home on social media. When she is going through hard times, she said she finds peace through social media because it allows her to contact her parents to receive motivation and support from them.
Richter said she has found the most peace staying updated with distant friends, sharing her life with them and bringing others together on social media. She added one of the most effective ways to connect through social media is through Instagram stories, which are more interactive than individual posts.
She said she once posted a question on her Instagram story asking, “What are some little things that make you fall in love with life a bit more?” Richter said not only did seeing the responses help her find peace amidst the distance she felt from her friends and family, but as she posted the answers, light spread to everyone she knew.
Richter explained some of the answers included “second-hand bookstores, video games, how beautiful the planet is, snow melting, being barefoot in the grass, the sun, being able to brighten someone's day, and when someone takes the time to listen to them.”
She continued, “I had other friends reach out after I posted those responses and say it brightened their day as well, which was a really nice feeling.”
Social media also helped Richter become more aware of other people's experiences, she explained. “I do feel like social media has helped me be more aware of life and be more connected to the different experiences people have in life,” Richter explained.
Social media creates distance
Tu'iono said although social media helps her connect with her family, she has seen negative aspects of it affect her life. She said when she is spending too much time on social media, her grades drop, and she sees her focus shift from prayer and scripture study to looking at social media as soon as she wakes up.
She explained social media is “becoming a part of [people and their] daily routine.” She said this routine can get in the way of people making connections.
Lee said social media creates distance between her and Jover because they turn to social media when they are mad at each other because they don't want to face the problem right away. She explained when they are away from each other, it is easier to use social media as a distraction.
This distraction can be very detrimental because it distracts from loved ones. Richter said it also results in lost opportunities and experiences that could have enriched someone’s life.
Turning distance into connections
Lee said she and Jover have experienced how social media affects a relationship in person and long distance. Through this experience, Lee said they have learned how to use social media to create a connection between them instead of distance. She said they counteract the distraction of social media by having set times or activities when they are not on their phones.
For Jover, family connection is essential to him, so he said they put down their phones for dinner or family home evenings so they can interact with each other. “If [people] have good communication with each member of [their] family, it feels good.” He said he uses dinner time to reconnect with his family and destress.
Lee said, “For Filipinos, mealtime is very important. … We have to put our phones down … [and] have a conversation with the family. That is where we find the time to really reconnect.”
Tu'iono said the way she is wise with social media is by participating in social media fasts. She said people should remember they know their self better than anyone else, so when they feel they need more time for their self, they should take a break from social media.
She said her two-week social media fast affected her life in a positive way. “It helped remind me there are other things more important than social media.”
Richter said although she notices the adverse effects of social media being addictive, she has discovered social media improves her life when she uses it to become more aware of and learn about other people instead of just using it to pass the time.
Over this past summer, Richter said she went off social media for three months, and although just stopping it altogether isn't for everyone, it helped her. She said she had time to experience more things she previously wanted to do, like reading books, practicing instruments, going on road trips and discovering new hikes and adventures.
“I wouldn't have been able to do that if I was stuck in this habitual cycle of scrolling on social media,” she explained.
It was during this social media fast Richter said she took up film photography with the camera her grandpa gave her. She said, “I felt like film photography … helped me stay grounded and present and enjoy whatever I was experiencing at that moment.”