I tried a digital detox from LinkedIn for 3 months.
In this article I am reflecting on my experience.
Here’s what happened.
Let’s start with:
What is a digital detox?
Digital detox is a trending topic that seems everywhere these days. The term “Digital Detox” means different things to different people and as a result, it is often misunderstood. From my experience it boils down to the following:
Getting away from technology for a specific amount of time
Hereby technology can be physical like smartphone, TV, laptop, or software like specific websites, apps, social media etc.
There are many good reasons to take a digital detox. When you take a break from working with the computer and mobile devices, it is good for mental health, physical health and productivity.
For example this study has shown that a digital detox has a positive influence on productivity of employees.
The negative effects of smartphones are often overlooked, which why it is important to get some time off.
My reason
First off, I think LinkedIn is a great platform to connect fast & easy with professionals, old and new colleagues and potential business partners.
Nevertheless, Linkedin is a social media platform.
Therefore, it has a stream that pushes forward algorithmic optimised content.
The content on LinkedIn - or maybe I should say the content on [my LinkedIn ] is biased towards two directions
🤳 Perfection
Shiny and flashy images of people smiling and laughing into a perfectly lit camera
🤩 “Success”
Sharing of positive statistics & numbers that emphasize “success”
Some content pieces even seem as if they were straight out of a fashion magazine.
It feels like the effect Instagram has/had on fitness content online.
🍑 Instagram = Perfectly orchestrated “Insta-Fit” pictures creating a false image of body compositions.
😎 LinkedIn = Perfectly orchestrated “Business-Success” pictures creating a false image of business/work development.
I am also guilty adding into this bubble.
I know, I can filter out content I do not lie and form my own bubble.
Nevertheless the algorithm pushes a specific kind of content.
That’s why I stepped back.
For more mental space.
My learnings
🍃 Mind decluttering
I noticed that I feel a ease to my business related thoughts. It helped me refocus on topics that are important to me like learning new things, in my case Web Development
✨ New way of usage
The main issue I had with LinkedIn was the overly optimised stream. Which is why I am putting my attention away fom the stream to meaningful messages, or scanning trending topics.
🕒 More time
Not having to produce content for LinkedIn, or not bein influenced by the images and topics gave me more time.
What now?
Right now I am in the process of testing & re-evaluating my relation to LinkedIn. I am trying out content production again with a different approach. Yet, spending less time on the stream.
Have you ever tried a digital detox?
Just tweet me
futurefounder21.