Signing Off: Stressed Celebs Take Social Media Sabbatical
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Should you delete yourself? It may be time for a social media sabbatical.
October 2nd was the last time Kim Kardashian posted on Instagram.
It was a photo of herself while out in Paris, which was significant because that night Kim would be robbed and held up at gunpoint in her hotel room.
For the 87.8 million people who follow her on the social media app, it's a noticeable loss. Kim posts daily, sometimes of the extravagant jewels that were reportedly the target of the robbery.
Her absence on social media could be a wake up call for those of us so willing to divulge any and every detail of our lives online.
"I like to take breaks from it. Some people are really attached to it because it's addicting," said Pedro Hernandez who uses social media sparingly.
Kardashian, along with a number of celebrities, are taking breaks, too; Justin Bieber deleted his Instagram. Kanye West went so far as to get rid of his phone.
So is hitting "delete" the best way to preserve one's mental, emotional, and physical self?
Professor of Psychiatry at FIU Health Eugenio Rothe says yes.
"It puts it in sensory overload. It makes the brain release stress hormones. It makes us feel more irritable, moody and cranky," said Rothe.
And if that's true, there's a lot of cranky Americans going through feeds and followers.
In 2016, 78 percent of Americans had a social media profile, representing a 5 percent growth compared to the previous year.
It's easy to say that we should turn off our phones and delete our accounts.
"We need to increase face to face human interaction," said Rothe.
But not likely.
The number of worldwide social media users reached nearly 2 billion (1.96 billion) and is expected to grow to some 2.5 billion by 2018.
"Human beings have a desire to be admired, loved and there is a little bit of exhibitionism in all of us," said Rothe.
At the end of the day, whether we're on social media or not, it is shaping our lives as we speak. For Harrison Embree, it means making sure the world knows he's in a relationship.
"I have a Instagram and I have a girlfriend," he says. "And if I don't post pictures of her, the world might think I'm single."
So keep your significant other happy by posting, but be careful how much information you voluntarily tell the world.
"We want to put our best face out there to receive compliments but sometimes the person on the other end doesn't have those same intentions in mind," said Rothe.
In the case of Kardashian, she put her jewelry and wealth on social media, and it literally almost cost her her life.
So yes, maybe take a sabbatical from social media for a bit if you feel overwhelmed because remember it's possible to be deleted and still exist.
