Do you treat social media like junk food?

I shared last week about finding the “middle place” when it comes to social media usage, and a recent comment I heard on a podcast helped shape that a bit further.

While listening to a recent episode of Adam Grant’s WorkLife podcast, his guest Jay Van Bavel made this comparison of social media usage to junk food:

“When I use social media, it’s like your diet. I think some people just want the junk food diet version of it. And other of us like actually make an effort to use it as a way to make ourselves smarter or more informed about the world.”

It’s a solid analogy. The food that we feed ourselves directly affects our body, just like the media that we consume directly affects our thoughts. In both cases it’s fine to consume a bit of junk food from time to time, but if that is your primary sustenance you’re gonna have a bad time.