Why are some young people leaving social media, or at least using it less? The answer is simple. Many still use social media every day. But more of them now feel it takes too much time. In a 2025 Pew survey, 45% of U.S. teens said they spend too much time on social media. That was up from 27% in 2023. And 44% said they had already tried to cut back. (pewresearch.org)
There are a few big reasons. Sleep is one. In the same Pew study, 45% of teens said social media hurts their sleep. And 40% said it hurts how well they get things done. A 2026 Pew report found that about three in ten teen TikTok users felt they spent too much time on the app, and about four in ten said it hurt their sleep. Bullying is another reason. Roughly three-quarters of teen users said bullying and harassment are a problem on these platforms. The U.S. Surgeon General has also warned that children and teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media face about double the risk of mental health problems. (pewresearch.org)
So, what is a digital detox? It is a break from phones, apps, or the internet for a time. And this idea is not only talk. In a 2025 study, young adults who did a one-week social media break showed lower levels of depression, anxiety, and sleep problems. Still, social media is not all bad. Pew found that about seven in ten teens on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat say their experience there is mostly positive. So the new trend is not “never go online again.” It is more like this: use social media, but do not let it use you. (healthline.com)










