Regardless of how many medals Simone Biles takes home from Paris this week, she will not be using X (previously Twitter) as a platform to express her joy or offer support to her supporters.For the 2024 Olympic Games, the gymnastics legend told Today that she was primarily turning off her accounts.
When asked about her “magic” this time, Biles first attributed it to her own development and maturity—at 27, she is essentially old by gymnastics standards—but she also revealed another little-known trick.
“Reducing the use of social media and similar content will be crucial,” she stated. She has entirely unlogged from X, but she still uses Instagram and TikTok occasionally for playtime. “It’s a means of sharing our experiences,” she went on.
Biles, who notably withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics due to mental health issues, has good reason to keep her social media usage to a minimum. However, you don’t need to be a well-known gymnast or well-discussed public figure to take inspiration from her.
A vast amount of scientific evidence indicates that eliminating most social media from your life would likely improve your performance and happiness as well.
There are several reasons for Simone Biles to stay off social media.
There are numerous ways in which Simone Biles is exceptional. She has seven Olympic medals, five gymnastics techniques named after her, and an unbelievable amount of public attention. It follows that her mental health hasn’t always benefited from reading the comments.
The first thing she thought of when the twisties struck Tokyo, a phenomenon that makes gymnasts overthink and lose themselves in midair during routines, was all the unpleasant comments she would have to deal with the next time she checked her accounts.
She said, “I felt like, ‘Oh, America hates me,’ as soon as I landed [my vault].” “Everyone is going to despise me. And at this moment, all I can see is what they’re saying on Twitter. My initial instinct was that.
It’s obvious you don’t need millions of strangers telling you they despise you in your thoughts when you’re trying to process past trauma while hurling yourself upside down 12 feet in the air. Biles so gained the painful experience of limiting her social media use.
Though Biles’s choice serves as a reminder that everyone should pause before posting anything online and that famous people are also people. It’s also a subliminal reminder for us average folks to think about whether or not we benefit from using social media. Strict science indicates that most of us would gain from imitating Biles.
The science behind social media withdrawal.
Since social media became a commonplace part of daily life in the early 2000s, research has consistently shown that excessive usage of the platform is detrimental to mental health. However, a lot of these studies had the flaw of only demonstrating correlations. Researchers would see that those with higher social media usage also reported lower mental health in a sample of subjects. But was the problem that you became depressed from Facebook and the like, or was it that depressed individuals used social media more?
Social media critics also cited anecdotal evidence of people who felt better and more productive after quitting social media for personal reasons, various struggles, or detoxifications. However, anecdotes do not qualify as solid scientific proof, as anyone who has attended a high school science course can attest.
However, a few years ago, researchers made the decision to undertake randomised controlled trials—the gold standard of research studies—in order to address the issue of social media’s impact on mental health. Out of 154 volunteers, half were asked to abstain from social media for a week and a half while the others continued to click away as normal.
The findings were condensed on computer scientist and author Cal Newport’s blog and published in Cyberpsychology, Behaviour, and Social Networking:
By this past week’s end, the researchers discovered “strong between-group differences” in the three measures of anxiety, sadness, and well-being; the intervention group performed significantly better on all three. These outcomes persisted even after accounting for age, gender, and baseline scores.
Put another way, after a week, those who reduced their social media use were noticeably happier and less nervous. The biggest improvements came from participants giving up social media entirely, though cutting back on usage even made a difference.
a more deliberate use of social media.
It might not be feasible or even desirable for you to completely give up social media as a modern entrepreneur. Sometimes these sites are inescapable, whether you’re trying to stay on top of PTA events or selling your business. Simone Biles’s experiments on TikTok demonstrate that occasionally they’re even enjoyable and uplifting.
However, the overwhelming body of scientific evidence indicates that, generally speaking, intentionality outperforms thoughtless scrolling when it comes to social media use.
When the opinions of every random online loudmouth are always ringing in her ears, Simone Biles’s performance suffers. Why would you do that? Perhaps it’s time to consider reducing the amount of platforms you use, putting a time limit on them, or even taking periodic tactical rests a la the greatest gymnast in history.
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