One month since Australia’s teen social media ban kicked in, she says she is “disconnected from my phone” and her daily routine has changed.
The 14-year-old first felt the pangs of online addiction in the days after the ban started.
“I knew that I was still unable to access Snapchat – however, from instinct, I still reached to open the app in the morning,” she wrote on day two of the ban in a diary she kept for the first week afterwards.
By day four of the ban – when ten platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok went dark for thousands of Australian children aged 16 and under – she had started to question the magnetic pull of Snapchat.
“While it’s sad that I can’t snap my friends, I can still text them on other platforms and I honestly feel kind of free knowing that I don’t have to worry about doing my streaks anymore,” Amy wrote.
Streaks – a Snapchat feature considered by some as highly addictive – require two people to send a “snap” – a photo or video – to each other every day in order to maintain their “streak” which can last for days, months, even years.
By day six, the allure of Snapchat – which she first downloaded when she was 12 and checked several times a day – was fading fast for Amy.
“I often used to call my friends on Snapchat after school, but because I am no longer able to, I went for a run,” she wrote.
Fast forward a month, and her habits are markedly different.
“Previously, it was part of my routine to open Snapchat,” the Sydney teen tells the BBC.
“Opening Snapchat would often lead to Instagram and then TikTok, which sometimes resulted in me losing track of time after being swept up by the algorithm … I now reach for my phone less and mainly use it when I genuinely need to do something.”
