Have you experienced social media burnout? Not everyone has, but many users have in recent years. There are only so many hours in a day. It is easy to get caught up in posting, responding and reading comments.
Learn the symptoms of social media burnout before you come down with a bad case of it or before it incapacitates you from working.
It’s easy to stay on social media for many of those hours, day after day.
Table of Contents
Content Matters
However, this also means the quality of the content you create for social as well as what you share as you engage with your audience. It’s a lot of time that is spent creating the content as well as time engaging on each of the networks for you or your business.
If you begin to get burnt out managing social media you may become lazy and your work will suffer.
I’ve asked other bloggers if they ever suffered from it and how they overcame it. You may find their answers quite interesting and helpful.
What Is Social Media Burnout?
Burnout Definition: “The physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.” It’s the feeling of being exhausted from the overuse of social media.
Too much of anything can cause us to burn out. If that happens you may need a social media detox.
Social Media Burnout Symptoms
Symptoms of social media burnout include feelings of anxiety, depression, and irritability, as well as physical symptoms such as headaches and fatigue. Individuals may experience a decrease in productivity and a lack of interest in activities they once enjoyed.
Insomnia and difficulty concentrating are also common indicators of social media burnout.
Additionally, individuals may feel a sense of isolation and a decline in their overall mental well-being.
Some Just Plan Quit
Did you read the article about the 18-year-old blogger girl who just quit social media? She had over 500,000 followers on Instagram, YouTube, and Tumblr. The girl realized she started to feel miserable watching the numbers on her screen daily.
She was checking her numbers obsessively and felt much better after she quit. She talks about being obsessive on social media which made her feel worse about herself.
Now, you may be able to relate to her if you are on social media much of the time.
She was able to overcome social media burnout but not everyone in the business can quit their social media accounts. But BALANCE is the key here.
Tips to Overcome
So I asked several people how they overcome social media burnout. Some bloggers actually have not experienced it. One common thing to note:
That tip seemed to resonate with most users. Even those that did not suffer from social media burnout would take weekends off. It seems to be the most common tip among social media users.
Check out these great tips below from other bloggers. Learn how they overcame social media burnout or have avoided it altogether.
Shut Down On The Weekends
This tip comes from Mitch Mitchell of I’m Just Sharing. He says it happens to him every once in a while and he will shut down for the entire weekend. He also has stepped away for a week at a time to recharge.
Ian Cleary from the Razor Social Blog claims he never suffers from social media burnout. He always enjoys connecting with others on social media.
Ellen M Gregg from her blog claims she did get social media burnout from Facebook and Twitter. She felt overwhelming with all the noise on the networks. However, she was able to stay off Facebook for over a month. She also went on to say it gave her a breath of fresh air as she draw back.
Lastly, Ellen also mentioned that she too shuts down on the weekends as it is her time away.
Enstine Muki from his making money blog says he does not get burned out using social media for his business. He has reduced the time online on the weekends to spend time with his children.
Kevin J. Juncan from Be A Better Blogger says even though he felt like throwing in the towel whenever someone he know retweets one of the Kardashians, he’s yet to experience social media burnout. His secret? He take tiny bites.
However, he may be on Twitter and Facebook seven days a week, but he is never on them for more than ten minutes at a time. In short, he paces himself.
Additional Tips to Overcome Social Media Burnout
To overcome social media burnout, set specific time limits for usage each day. Therefore, prioritize meaningful interactions over passive scrolling. Then curate your feed to follow accounts that inspire and uplift you.
Of course, take regular breaks from social media, engage in offline activities that bring you joy and fulfillment, and consider seeking support from friends, family, or a mental health professional if needed.
Now if you are a social media manager or manage your own social networks, I do recommend using tools to manage the postings and replies to keep you off of the channels.
Have You Suffered From Social Media Burnout?
Were you able to overcome social media burnout or do you still suffer from it at times? Do you go on social media 7 days a week or do you also take the weekends off?
I’d love to know more in the comments below on how you deal with social media burnout.
I too have suffered from this after being on for over a decade. Now, I take time away from my smartphone and lower notification sounds in the evening to avoid the social media burnout I’ve suffered in the past.
Today I can understand why many social media managers do not do social media for themselves or their company as they are overwhelmed with managing it for their clients.
She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 12 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
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Social media can provide a way for your employees to deal with burnout, if you’ll let them. By allowing them to take time to cultivate relationships with other people online and face to face – and not just dealing with customer issues – your employees can become more effective in their work and care for your customers better.
I often feel social media burnouts. In fact, for this special reason I have started using time blocking and Rescuetime application. Time blocking helps me in managing my social media effectively and rescuetime helps me in monitoring my time.
When I am free, I often tend to schedule my post/status and other stuff through buffer and hootsuite. It so much helps in managing everything. Most of us do not realize that they have become social media addict.
Hi Dev, I really hadn’t heard much about those. Time blocking is best I find. Just staying off it for certain times. You are right many of us do not realize when we get addicted to it until after we have. It can be hard to realize. Thanks for coming by Dev and have a great week and new year ahead!
I don’t have regular times to walk away. I just do not try to keep up with every site in real time. I use Twitter most often, but I primarily use Facebook groups for business networking and don’t often visit my home page to interact except for a few minutes. I read responses through my email. I pretty well ignore the other networks unless I’m part of a Pinterest challenge in a group. Pinterest is a site that could eat all my time if I let it.
I suffer most often from blogging burnout. Sometimes my daily photo blog begins to be much too daily. Occasionally I take the easy way out and only publish the required one photo and a few words, but most days I go way beyond that or it doesn’t seem like much of a blog post to me. Meanwhile, I have been neglecting my other blogs that are really more important.
I will be making some changes in February and paying more attention to my other blogs. I use social media primarily on breaks and for promotion. I try to get into conversations on Twitter.
Hi Barbara, That’s too bad that you don’t take regular breaks. I’ve found it really does help. I love Twitter best as well. Pinterest is fun but I don’t go there daily. When I published daily I found it way too much and the same now if others do and I subscribe – I find it difficult to go back day after day to the same one. Good luck with your changes in February Barbara. I’d love to see your photo blog, I have one too. Thanks for coming by and have a great new week and year ahead.
Hello Lisa,
Social Media Burnout? I’m surprised some people never experience this. I experience this atimes and i feel its because of my person. Now that i know that i’m not the only one who suddenly gets ‘mad’ at social media, i feel much better.
At such times, what i do is that i give myself a break. It might just be a sign that i have stressed myself too much, probably kept consecutive late nights, skipped meals and stuff like that just because i want to be active online. I’m not really a big fan of facebook tho, but i could sleep and wake up on twitter.
Thanks alot for your suggestions, i’m sure they can help me.
Hi Ralphael, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. I know – right? I was too. I don’t get mad at it, just bored or overwhelmed and have to take a break every now and then. I too prefer Twitter much more over Facebook. You are welcome and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Hi Lisa,
My apologies for not getting around to stopping by and commenting on this post sooner. Firstly, many thanks for inviting me to take part and for sharing my thoughts as bonus points.
I can’t really add much to what I said already in my comments in the post itself other than I think that the reason social media burnout can become a problem for some is the big part that it places in society these days. We live in a time where everyone is so used to being connected – in many ways we have the world literally at our fingertips 24/7. When something becomes a natural part of our life and a natural extension of ourselves, it can be hard to detach oneself from it.
Years ago I never had a mobile phone and was one of the last t get one out of my group of friends. As much as I love technology and the Internet, I’ve never been one of these people who has their face in their phone practically all the waking day. Even now I only ever turn on the Internet connection on my phone or tablet when I specifically want/need to go online. Otherwise, it stays off.
However, if I leave the house without my phone then I can’t help the feeling of feeling lost and almost a little unnerved! As I said, these things have become such an integral part of our lives that it can be hard to get that detachment. So if someone like I can feel that about my phone then I can completely understand how some people can suffer social media burnout. The answer, though, I feel is to simply know when enough is enough and to switch off.
Thanks for such an interesting and informative post and many thanks again for featuring me.
Have a great weekend!
»Glenn«
Hi Glenn, It’s never too late:) Funny, the few times i have left my phone home, I felt liberated. I really didn’t miss it. I can’t see being without it every day though. That would be unnverving for me. We use them for so much. That is awesome that you know when enough is enough and can shut it off before getting burnt out. I think taking weekends off from it has helped me and many others from the comments and suggestions I’ve read here. Thank you Glenn for coming by and I hope you enjoyed the weekend. Have a great new week!
Hi Lisa.
A couple of weeks ago I actually realized I had shut it down for the week-end. I didn’t do it deliberately, but just got involved in other things.
I think it’s critical to give our mind a break. If we worked in the real world, it is necessary to shut down – that’s why we have week-ends. At some point in time if we continue working, stress overload definitely sets in.
I’m glad you wrote this article because when I do shut it down or go away, I always feel kinda guilty. In the past few months, I’ve been not so much involved on week-ends and even sometimes during the week.
This article is great and even successful bloggers take the time to refresh after a week of work, like Adrienne Smith and some of the others.
Anyway, came across your article from Twitter and wanted to respond and tell you why I thought this was so important.
Hope you are well.
Talk soon,
Barbara
Hi Barbara, thank you for taking the time to do do. I’ve been taking more time off myself on weekends and a little on some week nights. I think it’s important to recharge and give yourself more time for the wonderful offline relationships. I am glad this post has made you feel better about taking that much needed time off Barbara. Now go and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Not caring is big for me Lisa. Meaning I have fun on social and if I find myself caring, I’m not having fun, I’m getting attached. That’s where burnout happens. When you attach. When you NEED to check updates. Which is why I spend time on social here and there but the second I start caring and feel tension I drop social for a few days. I take Saturday off now but we’ll jack things up tomorrow, as we’re doing a 2 month house sit in a jungle spot. No electricity or internet. We’ll hop online in nearby Puerto Viejo 1-2 times weekly but overall I’ll be pulling back heavily on social sites, even twitter, because I’ll be offline for much of the next 2 months. Don’s strategy works well for me too; that feeling of knowing when to pull back and just post fun stuff adds an air of lightness to social.
Ryan
Hi Ryan, Interesting point Ryan – attachment makes for burnout? I never thought of it in that way. I try to stay off on weekends or keep it to a bare minimum. No internet service is a sure way to stay off Ryan. keeping it fun is good, just like with anything, once you are not enjoying it – it becomes mundane or overbearing. (just like a job, etc) Thanks for coming by with this interesting take on social media burnout Ryan. Enjoy the new place for 2 months – sounds fun!
Hi, Lisa.
It was good to read these experiences and to see that they all recognise a need for balance.
Social media is just that – a means to socialise. But we can’t socialise 24/7 as it’s impractical and counter-productive. I tend to dip in and out a few or several times per day, especially very late or during the night (here in the UK). My situation is interesting because that’s when most of you are up and about anyway.
But I sometimes go through most of the day without checking anything, if I’m distracted enough (which I usually am). But it’s good to be aware of social media burnout, as that’s something I can definitely do without.
Thanks for sharing this fine lesson.
Nathan.
Hi Nathan, balance is key! You are so right about that. It sounds like you have avoided it (social media burnout) to this point, right Nathan? I always seem to be checking every now and then with notifications which I do try to keep to a minimum. I think avoid the distractions from it would help many bloggers produce more content too, it’s a tough balance between networking and creating content. Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful weekend!
Hey Lisa,
Nice round up here with many different responses. I’m pretty much on social media everyday. More so on YouTube watching educational videos on history, music, politics and of course salsa dancing.
As far as business is concern I’m usually on it for no more than 15min. I usually get on to check messages, answer any questions, ask questions, and to share blog posts. Just keeping my time limited has worked a lot bettee for me. But besides that I never had social media burnout.
Thanks for sharing Lisa! Have a great Thanksgiving!
Hi Sherman, thank you. Wow, you are into YouTube? I don’t go to that network too often unless I’m looking how to do something, usually around the house. Interesting, you keep track of your time too. You give yourself a little more than others but that is great. Lucky you have not experienced it but spending less time on it must certainly help. I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving Sherman. Did it get cold where you are? I saw something about it being colder in CA than here on the East Coast. Strange weather! Enjoy the weekend.
Hey Lisa,
Yes it got pretty cold here.. I got down to about 42 degrees and a high of 63…. that’s cold for us. How about there on the east coast?
We are a tad cooler than that with some rain today but so far NO snow …
Hi Lisa,
Great tips you’ve gathered! Thank you for kindly accepting mine even though I got them to you late! (I really need to hire an assistant. Note to self: Go win the lottery so you can hire an assistant…)
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Lisa!
– @kevinjduncan
Hi Kevin, Thanks. I was curious how others felt about this one. I’m so glad you were able to get on this topic Kevin. Pacing oneself is a great tip. Staying on track of your time is another. I like your 10 minute rule. I enjoyed the holiday and hard to believe we are heading into December Kevin. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Lisa,
I landed here from your comment at my latest blog post.
What an interesting roundup of opinions by fellow bloggers.
I know all of them.
And I did read too about Essena O’Neill. What a curious story.
I think the solution is having a plan, focusing on completing the most important tasks first, and then dedicate the proper time to social media marketing.
But yes, you can definitely waste a lot of time hanging out on Facebook timelines, news, feeds, etc.
Thanks for sharing, have a great rest of this week.
Hi Erik, oh yes, funny how we did a similar topic at the same time. That was a great example of what too much social media can do to people. Yes, having a plan is key and keeping track of time for that plan too. You are welcome Erik and have a great weekend.
Hi Lisa,
What a varied response you got from folks answering your question on social media burnout. I haven’t experienced it myself yet, but I do tend to do my social media in allocated time-slots. It can be become very time-consuming if one is not careful. And I think its important to make the distinction between business and personal social media if you can, like Don mentions.
A few years back when I had a Blackberry from work I used to take that everywhere including vacations and was constantly checking emails. In the end I was ‘ordered’ to switch it off. It was the right advice. Its important to have down-time and avoid burnout.
I like your Canva Quotes – I saw that post on Sue’s blog too
-David
Hi David, yes – very interesting! Great point about putting it (time) into allocated time slots. Oh yes, on vacation do switch it off. And take regular breaks from it seems to be key. It is not always easy though. Thank you for coming by on this one David and for your advice and experience as well. Have a great day and rest of the week.
Hi, Lisa; This is such a timely post! I suffered a severe case of corporate burnout back in my workaholic days and am finding this happens to me in regards to blogging and social media as well. Weekends are busy with hubby and clients, so online participation is limited then, for sure. I take regular breaks from blogging and will do so again Dec – Jan. Facebook and Twitter is a bit harder to stay away from, but I’ll often just read a few posts without getting involved. My computer is rarely turned off completely, though. This is something I definitely should consider doing more of. I work from home and spend a lot of time online. Getting out of the house is great because I leave it behind. No smartphone for me.
Hi Debbie, Thank you. I recently had a funk with it and felt so much better when I did leaave the smartphone home one day (I actually forgot it and it felt good). I try not to do as much online on weekends unless I never got on during the week which is hard with my day job. Wow, no smartphone for you Deb? I couldn’t live without mine for too long. But breaks are sure great. Thanks for your input on this one Debbie and for coming by. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Hey there Lisa,
Great collection of thoughts from some awesome people. Much like the majority have said, switching off on the weekends is key. Most of us do that anyway (work Mon-Fri and switch off at the weekends), so why aren’t we replicating that online?
The FOMO is a big sticking point. So many people think there’s something really amazing happening, so they need to be there. Or, people will forget about them if their face isn’t flying across social networks all the time.
Guess what? Life goes on. Nothing changes. Lives continue, the networks don’t crash, and the internet doesn’t come to a grinding halt because you’re not there for an hour or so.
That time spent on the web? Spend it with the people that really matter – loved ones, friends, families, people you haven’t seen for years. THAT life experience is finite – the web, not so much. Make it count before it’s too late.
Cheers!
Hi Danny, thank you. Excellent point about that – that those of us who work 5 days a week do take the weekends off so why not online as well. I hadn’t thought about it that way before.
That is true. Like the time I forgot to bring my mobile phone with me for a few hours. Nothing happened. Life does go on.
Yes, in person and offline is great. And if you really like the folks online you might get together. I did last weekend with a group of women locally from Twitter, we’ve become real life friends now.
Thanks Danny for your input and have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!
Always nice showing up in someone else’s blog post but this is the first time I’ve been first; yay! lol
I read some of the above where people said they never got burned out or didn’t want to refer to it that way. I’m glad that works for them. I look at my life as a whole and even stuff I love has occasionally gotten to me and I had to step away from it for a short while. I’m probably a bit more obsessive than many people are when I come across something I really like, thus either burn out or need to get away from it for a period of time; it’s a good thing I don’t drink or take drugs. lol
In any case I think this was a good way to start the conversation.
Hi Mitch, LOL, well deserved I must say with all your engagement over there on Twitter.
Yes, I can’t imagine never getting burned out. I do for a short time and like you must step away or walk away for a brief time. It helps me to get refreshed and jump back in. That is a GOOD thing Mitch that you don’t….:)
Thanks for particpating and for your input on this topic. Have a great rest of the week and Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Mitch, LOL, well deserved I must say with all your engagement over there on Twitter.
Yes, I can’t imagine never getting burned out. I do for a short time and like you must step away or walk away for a brief time. It helps me to get refreshed and jump back in. That is a GOOD thing Mitch that you don’t….
Thanks for participating and for your input on this topic. Have a great rest of the week and Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi, Lisa! Thanks so much for asking the question, and including me in this round-up. I think it’s an important discussion, if for no other reason than to get people thinking.
I’m so impressed by Essena O’Neill. This is the first I’ve heard of her, and for her to “get it” so profoundly at age 18 gives me hope that either 1) things will change in the way social media can raise such insecurity and stress in people, or 2) someone will develop a new platform that doesn’t offer some kind of reward (numerical, algorithmic, or otherwise) for massive followers/likes/shares/views.
Thanks again, Lisa. And, speaking of thanks, happy Thanksgiving! Peace.
Hi Ellen, you are most welcome. Yes, it certainly has gotten people to think and discuss.
Yes, isn’t she impressive? Interesting you bring that up about the reward – numbers. Twitter is not longer giving us the Twitter count, on how many shares we now get on Twitter. Something I may be posting on next….
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Ellen and thanks for taking the time to respond to the question and coming to comment too!
Hi Lisa,
Thank you so much for inviting me to contribute! I have felt the burnout in the past and I know many are feeling it right now. Watching those numbers, trying to grow them, figuring out how to get people to interact and engage, how many platforms to focus on… it can all be overwhelming and exhausting.
Like I said in my section, I disconnect almost entirely on weekends and holidays; unless it’s for fun posts on Facebook.
One thing I didn’t say is I generally disconnect during the evenings as well for business. I’ll interact and engage of FB for fun and just to “connect” but not to discuss business.
Fantastic post and a much needed conversation.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Lisa!!!!!
~ Don Purdum
Hi Don, You are most certainly welcome. I appreciate your feedback Don. I must agree, it can get exhausting! Some many things that entail managing social media today.
Good to know about disconnecting on the weekends as a few others also suggested. That seems to be the key to not burning out – if not the weekends at least a day or two somewhere, right?
Thank you and I love the conversation it is generating.
I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving Don.
Hi Lisa,
Interesting post, and I loved to go through the views of everyone here as well.
I wouldn’t exactly call it a burnout because that happens when we are on the social networks all the time, which is tough for us bloggers, or else how’d we get work done! But yes, everything is workable if you set a routine or schedule your work depending on the number of hours you want to spend on social media.
Speaking of myself, I’d touch on all the main networks twice a day, but I am there for a very short time, and then I just close it all off and run!! There is no other way actually. Weekends one just lessens or reduces the time on such networks, and I personally would either not visit any of them or just check the notifications if any and quietly leave if I am home. Sundays are completely off – just for the family, unless something needs attention.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead.
Hi Harleena, thank you. I think setting a schedule is another great point Harleena. I think when we ignore them and do more we are more likely to burn out. I llove your close it all off and run! Great idea. Just run away. You are welcome and I hope you have a great rest of the week there Harleena.
Hey Lisa,
Thanks for including me and I’m glad I don’t get burnt out.
Social media is a great way to make connections so just like blogging I would hate to hear anyone who is ready to walk away because it’s become too much for them. I mean there are a LOT of things we all need to do online in order to get in front of our audience. For those like you who work a full-time job I’m sure you have to find whatever time you can to get online and get everything done. I can’t even imagine in that case.
I’m glad you brought this topic up though and I’m sure you’re going to get a lot of replies. I’m eager to see how many do get burnt out but I hope you’ll help with with a solution.
I’ll be sure of course to share this post. Appreciate this one and enjoy your week.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, you are very welcome. Glad you could respond to it. I was amazed that a few of you never experienced burn out. Wow! I think that is it, the ones like myself who work full time and then blog and do all that goes with it, tend to get burned out more. I think taking time off on weekends really resonated with many. Something I’ve been doing more of myself. Thanks again Adrienne and have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family.
What an awesome post, Lisa!
First off, thanks for quoting me! I think the reason why I, and maybe you, feel social media burn out is because we work full-time doing something other than social media. Whenever we get a free moment, we hop on social media and try to catch up. That can definitely bring on the burn out effect. I realize when I’m burn out and know how to handle it. I even get blog burn out and I just don’t want to touch my site!
There are many people that have stated that publishing content over the weekend is very effective. I’ve tried it on Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. I have to admit, I did get quite a lot of page views and visits to my site. Friday night and Sunday seemed to be good for comments. If I can’t totally detox for an entire day, I push myself to do at least half a day and then a night or two during the week.
Imo, there are always ways to detox and get away if even for a mere hour or so. I just don’t want the finer things in life to slip me by. Detox is good!
Thanks for sharing this, Lisa.
B
Hi Brenda, thank you. I experienced it during my funk so had to write about it. You are welcome. You make an excellent point on that one – we are always trying to play catch up! I can see how it may work – you are not competing with many other blogs on the weekends so you could get more views. I do notice many are not on Twitter on the weekend though or sparisly like myself of late. It all depends on the week too. If I’m offline a lot during the week I may play that catch up on one of the weekend days as well. Thanks for coming by Brenda and you are very welcome. Have a great day – almost your Friday!
Hi Lisa,
I take the weekends off from time to time but when I’m behind or didn’t get to certain tasks during the week, I work on the weekends.
I do need to take the advice of these awesome peeps who shared their views about unplugging on the weekends…I’m sure the fam would like that too :).
Thanks for the tips Lisa. I like the idea of using a timer. I’m going to have to try that one…and it’ll help me stay on schedule with my other tasks…time flies when you’re on social media.
Hope you’re having a great day! See ya in the socialverse! I haven’t been by twitter lately…shame on me, but I’ll be making my way there tonight.
Cori
Hi Corina, I’m with on that one. I don’t take all weekends off but have been doing more of that and it helps. Yes, a timer is great too. I try to stick to more of a schedule when I’m on otherwise I’d be on all day on a Saturday, etc. It’s been a busy day but good. I’ll see you back in the socialverse and hope all is well with your and the family. Have a great Thanksgiving!