Social media is like fire or like credit cards. If you don’t have control over them, addiction and disaster are guaranteed. However, if used intelligently, they can become an important tool for growth, education, and personal improvement.

Social networks are designed to create addiction. It’s widely known (and not even denied by the tech giants) that their algorithms immerse us in a sea of posts based on the last like we gave. Likes aren’t even necessary. Just three seconds of stopping to look at a photo is enough for the algorithm to know exactly what to show us next. And now, in the age of AI, it’s very easy to confuse reality with fiction. It’s important to reduce social media consumption to a minimum. One hour a day is the recommended limit. It’s essential to steer our tastes and preferences toward topics that truly add value and help us learn positive things. Use social media to create meaningful content, not just to consume what others post.

I also compare social media to going grocery shopping on an empty stomach. High‑sugar products are placed right at eye level or within reach of children. It’s much easier to grab a box of sugary cereal or a bag of salty chips than to walk over to the fruits and vegetables aisle. Being aware of what we consume is crucial so we don’t fall into a systematic deterioration of our health.

For those who know how to search and filter out the trash, social media does have good content. I believe barely 20% of what exists on these platforms offers any cultural value. That’s why it’s important to focus on the positive. It’s easy to get lost in that vast 80%. And just like anything harmful to our bodies, it’s essential to have periods of detox. Social networks allow us to pause our accounts until we regain our mental health and our sense of real social connection.