A new type of summer detox…

There is nothing like the emergence of a new fad diet to really emphasise summer’s arrival. But have you heard about the one that requires no exercise and let’s you consume anything you want?

Anything except social media that is.

Yup. Social media detoxes are the fad diets du jour.

Even Kim selfie-queen Kardashian has done it. As have a range of other celebs who didn’t even have to get held up at gunpoint in their Paris hotel rooms and robbed of their diamonds to jump on the bandwagon.

Biebs, Ed Sheeran and Emma Watson are amongst those who count their social media time like calories. And experts reckon you should be doing so, too.

According to a report by influencer marketing company Mediakix, the average person will spend about five years of their lives on social media.

The link between social media and mental health issues can’t be ignored either. The reliance on external validation via likes and followers is, unsurprisingly, not super healthy for your state of mind. It’s been linked to anxiety and depression – and doesn’t do wonders for humankind’s narcissistic tendencies either.

Shedding social media isn’t totally new, but there is certainly a growing number of people endorsing the social media detox.

New Zealander Brad Smeele recently re-emerged from one such stint. Telling his 15,000 followers afterwards that he was “back, feeling refreshed and challenging them all to try a social media holiday – whether it be for two weeks, a week or even just a day”.

“Filter out all of the bullshit and pull things back to what’s really important. Appreciate what we do have, and stop focusing on what we don’t.”

The extent of such a detox can vary from person to person, with advice largely suggesting there is no need to go cold turkey, but instead to cut down, maybe turn off some notifications, unfollow a few things and be conscious of time spent scrolling.

So what does this mean for businesses trying to reach these audiences that are, as it seems, switching off in droves? Mosh founder Jeremy Marks says the concept of detoxes make sense.

“People’s attention is a scarce resource and should be treated as such. They’re more aware of having “off-time” and so they should be. If a habit is getting in the way of living a happy life, it’s not a good one.

“What it means for businesses and brands marketing themselves on these platforms is their content needs to be even more relevant.”

That’s right, just another reason to invest in quality content. Media that informs, entertains and gives and audience something – whether it’s a laugh or some useful information.

Anything less, and your brand could be the calories people cut from their social media consumption.