Mady Dewey Breaks Down How to Successfully Take a Social Media Detox and Why It’s Good For You

The 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie is a content creator and product marketing manager for Discord.

Mady Dewey.Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images

The only detox Mady Dewey will allow is a social media cleanse. The 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie took to Instagram on Feb. 13 to break down how to successfully take a step away from social media.

She began by proclaiming, “If the media that you’re consuming is not bringing you joy or energy but instead leaving you feeling overwhelmed, it’s detox time, O.K.?”

Dewey is a lifestyle content creator and product marketing manager for Discord, so she knows a thing or two about maintaining a healthy relationship with social media.

“say it with me: taking control of your feed is an act of self care !!!,” the 2022 Swim Search winner captioned her video.

Dewey said there are three simple steps to an effective social media detox.

The first is “identifying your intention,” whether it’s to completely remove social media, reduce time spent on various apps or just spend your time more wisely.

“The second step is actually just observing when you tend to go online,” she continued. “So you know what your goal is, but [ask yourself] why do you keep going on your phone. Try to find the emotions that triggered you opening your phone. So this can be anxiety, loneliness, boredom.”

Dewey further broke down the final step, depending on what the goal of your particular detox is.

“If you are someone who wants to spend less time it could mean finding a replacement activity when you notice that trigger. Whether that’s walking or playing video games—whatever makes the most sense for you,” she explained. “And if your goal is just to have a better time online, it could be setting an intention for the time that you are going to spend online—like ‘I want to learn something’—once you notice that trigger.”

The California native cofounded her own social media app, Herd, to shift the way women feel when sharing and consuming online media.

“There are a few main things we’re trying to change, one of those being the pressure that women feel posting online,” she said. “I remember times where I felt like I couldn’t post really big moments of joy because I was worried about what everyone else would think.”

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