psychology vs Social media ( Instagram and Youtube Shorts the best features ever )

Look, this blog isn’t going to lecture you on how constant doom scrolling is destroying your brain and your life because let’s be real, you already know that doom scrolling destroys you and you keep doing it anyway. So instead, I’m diving into something a bit more sneaky, how even just a little bit of connection to that endless feed of reels and shorts can totally control how you think about things, and yeah, you might be rolling your eyes right now thinking this is some wild conspiracy theory bullshit, but it’s not, and I’m going to prove it step by step with real stuff from my life and some hard facts that back it up.

First off, why social media even exists and why do you use it? It was never meant to be this black hole of doom scrolling. Social media started out as a way to get your shit done, not to drown in AI-generated slop or unskippable ads that pop up in every single corner possible. For example, think about when you’re stuck on some important project or a DIY thing at home, you hop on YouTube or Instagram to find a quick tutorial or a hack that actually helps. Or maybe you want to expose a big brand that’s ripping people off by selling cheap crap at insanely high prices, so you post about it and get others involved. That’s the original point, practical stuff, connecting for real reasons, not just endless swiping.

But now, do you really need social media in your day-to-day life? It always comes back to the same thing, you don’t actually need Instagram for most of what you do. Your go-to excuse might be something like I have friends online, I talk to them on Instagram and all that, so if that’s your real reason, why not just switch to a proper messaging app? Yeah, sometimes you want to share videos or memes, but come on, 99 percent of Instagram is all about the reels, everyone knows that deep down. So it’s pretty clear that you don’t need Instagram in your everyday routine unless you’re a big creator or someone in content marketing who’s actually researching what the market is on about. For the rest of us, you’re just wasting time there, and you know it, even if you don’t want to admit it out loud.

You have a limited amount of time in this life, right? Ever wondered why your fingers just automatically tap on that Instagram icon the second you turn on your phone or spot the app, and then before you know it, half an hour or a full hour has vanished, and you suddenly snap out of it thinking what the hell am I even doing here? Yeah, it’s happened to every single one of us at some point, and the reason is dead simple, it’s either because you don’t have anything truly interesting going on in your life right now, or you straight up love wasting your precious time on someone else’s videos and reels that you’re going to forget about in like 15 minutes anyway. And sure, you can argue back that you remember so many reels and all that stuff, but honestly, that alone proves you’re addicted to the nonsensical bullshit. I personally don’t remember any reel I’ve ever watched in my life, and that’s exactly why there’s a save button right next to every single one, because the app knows you’re going to forget it all anyway. If you still don’t believe me, go try re-watching your saved section right now, you’ll realize oh shit, I even saved this video and that one, it’s all a blur.

Now let’s talk about how YouTube Shorts is the second best app ever you can use in your daily life, and yeah, that’s total sarcasm. YouTube as a whole is a very very great platform unless it comes down to those damn shorts. I’ve never been addicted to YouTube shorts ever, and here’s why, back in 2017-2018 or maybe 2019-2020, I chose to pause my YouTube watch history and search history, and at the time I didn’t even realize how much I’d appreciate that move of blocking the watch history. What exactly does pausing your watch history do? Well, as soon as you block it, YouTube stops recommending anything on your home page, and that made me really happy because at least I control something there. So now, when I tap on the YouTube icon on my phone, it shows this blank slate, and my brain instantly goes yeah, we came here for something specific, so I search exactly what I need instead of mindlessly scrolling the home page, and yep, YouTube addiction is way too bad if you let it run wild. The second best thing that blocking watch history does is that the shorts section doesn’t really work as you can see from my phone’s screenshot, it’s limited. But if the shorts do show up on your phone while you’re watching a video, you might get 5-10 or less or more shorts recommendations, but it’s not completely doomed where you’re just mindlessly scrolling forever, it’s limited at least. Pausing watch history is definitely worth trying because there’s no extension support like on desktop for your phone. If you use your phone as your primary device to consume everyday things, you should try pausing your watch history. If you use desktop as your primary device, there are a ton of extensions out there, you can easily block anything you want.

Okay, now for the big one, how even a little interaction with reels or shorts can lead you to think what you don’t want to think about. This is my personal take, so my experience is that I usually don’t use Instagram for about a year now, I keep it deactivated because I have some international friends who I really can’t trust with my phone number. So I go on once in a while, like every 3-4 months, just to chit chat a bit. I never really open Instagram nowadays, but since I saw a mail on my phone that I had an unread message, I opened IG on my browser on desktop, and what I see is I really don’t have an unread message, and suddenly I don’t know how but I clicked that reel icon on the sidebar, and here comes the destruction of my precious time. I really don’t remember one important thing I saw on those reels, and I know there’s nothing important there anyway, so I wasted around 45-50 minutes of my precious life. That’s how it sneaks in and controls your thoughts, one little click and suddenly your mind is filled with stuff you didn’t even want, like random trends or comparisons that make you feel off.

And it gets worse, social media literally destroys thousands of relationships every day. It’s not just about wasting time, it’s about how it nukes real human connections. Over 30 percent of couples say social media is a major source of conflict in their relationships, from public fights that escalate online to straight up shaming each other in comments. Then there’s the jealousy factor, 34 percent of young adults feel jealous because of their partner’s online interactions, like liking an ex’s photo or some misinterpreted comment that blows up into a huge argument. Heavy users even report 11 percent lower happiness in their marriages, and there are real links to more infidelity and even divorces because of this stuff. The psychology behind it is brutal, you’re constantly comparing your real life to these curated perfect relationships everyone posts about, which breeds feelings of inadequacy. Miscommunication is huge too, since there’s no tone in texts or posts, so things get twisted easily, and don’t get me started on ghosting or subtweeting, that’s pure poison that ruins trust.

So what are the best alternatives you can use in order to minimize the time you’re being online and still get your shit done? Ditch the addictive apps without losing the useful parts. For sharing and chatting, go with something like Signal or WhatsApp, they’re end-to-end encrypted with no ads popping up everywhere. For quick tips or DIY stuff, use Pocket or Instapaper to save articles offline so you can read them intentionally without getting sucked in. For video learning, stick to full YouTube videos with no shorts enabled, or switch to apps like Khan Academy or Duolingo that are structured and not designed to make you scroll forever. If you’re planning content or organizing ideas, Notion is great for to-dos and notes. And for exposing brands or discussing issues, hop on Reddit or forums like ConsumerAffairs, they’re targeted and way less about endless scrolling. These swaps cut your online time big time while keeping the good stuff.

Now, how being off from IG and YT shorts gives you a space that you always wanted to have. Quitting, even just for a temporary break, totally reclaims your mind and gives you room to breathe. Studies show that just one week off social media can reduce anxiety by 16 percent, depression by 24 percent, and even insomnia by 14 percent. You get better focus and productivity because there are no constant distractions pulling you away from your real goals. Real connections improve too, less online jealousy means more meaningful in-person talks. And the mental clarity is huge, you finally have space to think your own thoughts instead of whatever the algorithm shoves at you. I feel way freer without IG, more present in my life and less anxious about dumb stuff.

Final thoughts on how to come out of this loop. First, if you’re doom scrolling, you’re cooked, yeah. Fuck them who say to you that you can’t control it or that you have an addiction you’re stuck with. It’s not your problem alone, it’s meant to be addictive, and that’s how they make their money, by keeping you online every second. Just quit it, deactivate it, delete the account, delete your identity off if you have to. If you really care about your mental health, that’s the way.

How you can really quit? It’s simple as ABC, find something that interests you, for example writing, which is very effective for getting thoughts out. Photography if you’ve got the gears. Exercise, that works every time to clear your head. Reading, especially on E-ink devices like a Kindle. Learning a thing you love. Or setting up a challenge for yourself, it can be any challenge, like a 30-day no-social streak.

I’ll sign off by saying one line, you have to clarify what’s important and what’s more important before you consume anything out on the internet.