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As the new year rings in and many reevaluate habits, social media use is on the chopping block once again.

CNN, NPR and The Guardian have all published guides to cutting down on scrolling in the past year. The Los Angeles Times recently profiled the oxymoronic rise of the “anti-doomscrolling influencer,” and the surge is beginning to gain national attention. Australia even recently banned social media use for adolescents under 16.

Lists of “ins and outs” for 2026, often posted to TikTok or Instagram, commonly highlight spending less time on social platforms as a top “in.” If it wasn’t already obvious from friends and family kvetching over ridiculous lengths of time lost to Instagram Reels, one thing remains clear: Spending less time on social media is trending.

Despite its flaws, casting social media as an all-encompassing demon for modern problems ignores the unexpected beauty and necessity of these platforms.

Don’t get me wrong, social media makes quite the attractive villain for many of society’s ills. Our country is more politically polarized than ever. There’s an oft-discussed “male loneliness epidemic” alongside a broader loneliness epidemic across genders. There are mounting concerns on its impact on mental health – though this may sound foreign to a Syracuse University student, given our party scene – the nation is facing a party deficit.

But long before social media existed, people curated themselves. The clothes we put on in the morning, the music we play around others, the tone we take in conversation,........

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