The concept of being offline has flooded social media. You can’t get away from someone telling you how logging off will cure your doom-scrolling. The idea of being offline within online platforms shows the exhaustion many media users are experiencing.

Yet, social media apps are so addictive that it becomes almost impossible to log off for long periods of time. The fear of missing out toils in our minds, forcing our hands to quiver anytime it reaches for the delete button.

The exhaustion of social media is evident amongst its users. Always having to keep up with trends and the constant stream of useless content is tiring. The term “brain rot” has been social media’s favorite phrase; often appearing in multiple video titles. Brain rot is essentially the internet’s personal terminology for the mental decline of consuming underdeveloping content.

Every video is advertising digital detoxes and are long video essays on the negative effects of doomscrolling. Creators, especially on TikTok and YouTube, have come to the conclusion that social media negatively affects the mind; a phenomenon since social media’s creation. For some reason, media users are in search of developmentally challenging content – but why?

The desire to learn has been soaring recently, specifically on social media. Many are making videos on picking up a book instead of using our phones. Perhaps this new phenomenon coincides with the performance of social media. Many social media users perform to be deemed as different, smarter and cooler than they actually believe are, fueling a desire to be liked and seen as important.

This repetition in performance could also stem from the world’s need to follow the leader. When an individual sees another succeeding, they naturally mimic their actions in hopes for the same result. This pattern is how social media functions, especially for those who wish to gain large numbers of views for their content.

This is a reason why creativity has seen its downfall recently. Following what’s popular is heavily advertised rather than being unique. Creativity is often overlooked and doesn’t receive as much recognition as trending content.

The concept of creativity often being ignored by the public has been noted for centuries. Artists, such as Vincent Van Gogh and Edouard Manet, didn’t receive their spotlight until years after their time. Work that is unique in comparison to what’s popular is often demonized until viewed by someone of importance. The same goes for underground musicians; once their music is heard by an individual who has some form of status, their spark of recognition ignites.

Videos that ramble about eliminating phone usage are often produced by individuals who want to be seen. Many are simply hopping onto the trend of “being offline is cool” just to gain recognition. Some are even making money off of their content. This notion is evident because each video repeats the same thing when it comes to phone usage; the idea that when you put your phone down, life becomes brighter.

That concept is followed by a list of book recommendations to consider as replacements for cellular-use. “Little Women,” “1984,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Wuthering Heights,” the same popular classic literature novels, are just a few of the ones recommended in videos that can easily be found by searching “popular classic literature” on Google. People are performing rather than sharing literature that is genuinely dear to them.

Instead of an effort to help people, the anti-phone epidemic has become a way to gain publicity and views. Many individuals online maintain a persona that is not genuine, so what they portray as real may not reflect reality. Recording oneself reading a book already plays into the idea that the offline trend is performative.

Those who are offline are genuinely offline. You don’t hear from them and they don’t make constant streams of content announcing it. Promoting an action that you yourself aren’t fully committing to is theatrical, to say the least. Picking up a book from time to time doesn’t make you “offline,” nor does going outside. The fact that going offline is seen as chic is interesting enough, being that “offline” shouldn’t be seen at all. It goes against its entire meaning.

To be offline is to use your phone for communication, not for entertainment. It doesn’t deem you as sophisticated or interesting. If anything, it should only benefit you mentally. People tend to forget that the world doesn’t care much about you unless you’re someone of importance; like a celebrity, influencer, politician or a president. How active you are on social media as an individual with no status is meaningless knowledge to the average public.

Going offline should be done for yourself, not for anyone else. The constant stream of promotion to follow a trend has become redundant. Nothing new is being added to the “offline” conversation – it has only resulted in another social media trend. It’s unfortunate that signing off and tapping into physical sources of media has become a trend to obtain views rather than to seek knowledge. Yet, that is what social media is often used for.