Interview transcript

Interviewer: Zeineldin Amr Mohamed

Interviewee: Habiba Moataz Elagamy
Data: 1/4/2022

My topic was a unique example in which my interviewee Habiba Moataz started a year ago a
challenge to stop using social media in order to raise awareness about the negative effects of
social media. The Interview took place in her Clinic in new Cairo on April 1, 2022

Zein
Hi, can you please introduce yourself?

Habiba
Hi, my name is Habiba. I studied dentistry. And I'm currently 23 years old.

Zein
Habiba. Can you please tell me about your challenge?

Habiba
Yes. So when the COVID first started, a lot of people started working from home including me.
And that's when I realised that I was being on my phone way too much. Everything I did was on
my phone, even the work was on my phone. And then I started to get a little bit too obsessed
with it. Even when I was with my friends and family. I was only thinking about being on my
phone. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings, I was always thinking about what to do on my
phone next. And that's when I realised this is too much.

Zein
when exactly did you start this challenge?

Habiba
So I started it one year ago in 2021, January,

Zein
Did you start this challenge for any reason, except for COVID?

Habiba
I realised also that it affected my mental health, that I was always comparing myself to others,
always thinking that I wasn't doing good enough, always trying to do the best, but was never
happy with it. And that's what I also realised that I needed to change it.

Zein
which social media platforms you're using the most?
Habiba
So I was using Instagram, the most Facebook also, but mostly Instagram.

Zein
How many hours a day did you use on social media platforms compared to now?

Habiba
The moment I wake up till the moment that I close my eyes again, I always have my phone next
to me always doing something on it to almost zero. And I wasn't that curious of knowing, like,
what was happening online, where my phone was at all times? I just enjoyed my moment.
Much more.

Zein
Do you think it was good decision to stop using social media?

Habiba
Yes, 100 percent. Social media can affect you a lot in a lot of ways that you don't even think
about, for example, the mental health. When you compare yourself a lot to others without
even thinking about it. It makes you just question everything you do at every moment. So when
I stopped using social media, I was just starting to become happy with what I was doing with
who I am with the people around me.

Zein
What the differs now when you stop using social media platforms?

Habiba
So the difference is that when I first wake up, I don't check my phone right away. When you
check your phone right away, it's you automatically are like on a trigger mode, trying to figure
out what is happening in the world. But when you're just trying to take a slow morning,
enjoying yourself, and not being so obsessed with other what other people are doing just
focusing on yourself. That's when you also start living like more easily. thats the diffrence, I
really noticed.

Zein
Can you tell me what impact do you think social media has had on you?

Habiba
So mostly, social media has had a negative impact on me. But it can for sure has have a positive
impact. And I know that a lot of people like work on social media, they promote the work on
social media. So in that sense, it can be good. But when you don't have a healthy balance, it can
take over. So that is the important part to have a healthy balance to not be on your phone too
much.

Zein
Do you think social media makes you compare yourself to others?

Habiba
Yes, definitely. Especially when it comes to Instagram. When you have a lot of these celebrities
that are on Instagram, you have this Instagram models, influencers. You compare yourself to
everything that they're doing, when it comes to like their body, their fashion, what they're
doing in life, you see on social media, and even on Tik Tok a lot where you have this young
people being so successful earning millions at an early age, and you start to wonder if like,
where did you go wrong? What could I have done better at a younger age?

Zein
Can you tell me what has changed in you after a while from stopping social media?

Habiba
So what has changed is that, first of all, as I just mentioned that I stopped comparing myself to
others, I started figuring out what I liked about myself. And start also realising that social media
is a facade. It's a facade where like, you only post the good things online. And as soon as you
realise that you realise that even these celebrities, these social media influencers, these
Instagrams, tiktokers,they also have bad days, but they never show it and this is a bad side of
social media. So I stopped comparing myself to others. I also stopped feeling jittery all the time.
The feeling that I always needed to check what was happening next. I never even manage to
live in the moment, I was always busy obtaining my Instagram and social media to show other
people what I was doing all the time. So that also changed to myself just enjoying the moment
much more. So now when something good is happening, I don't feel like I need to take out my
phone and post everything about it. I just enjoying myself much more. Because as soon as you
feel like you need to post everything on social media, it takes away the beauty from just the
natural thing that is happening in your life.

Zein
Can you tell me what challenged you the most when you stopped using social media?

Habiba
So what changed me the most is that when you're on social media all the time, you create a
routine. So when you wake up, it's social media, when you're eating it social media when you're
in the car traffic, you also use social media, when you come back from work, it's social media.
So this is a routine that is happening all the time. And when you suddenly stop using social
media, your routine also changes. But it's hard to change your routine that you've been doing
for several, either years, months or weeks. So that was the hard part to change the routine. And
also, the other part was that I felt like I was always busy when I had something to do on social
media. But without social media, I realised that I'm not that busy.

Zein
Did any of your family members join you in this challenge?
Habiba
I told my family members, my relatives about the positive impact that had on me, I managed to
convince my brother sister and my mother, because the thing with social media is also that like,
it is affecting every generation, like my younger brother, my older sister, and even my mother.
So everyone is on their phone in social media right now. So as soon as I managed to, like, get
into their head and tell them that this are the impacts that social media has on you, without
you even realising it. That's when they also managed to look at themselves and realise, okay,
we also need to make a change here. And as soon as they started it, they saw a positive impact.

Zein
Are you planning to spread awareness of how harmful social media is?

Habiba
Yes, so I'm doing as I've said it, telling this to my relatives and telling this to my colleagues at
work, also students.

Zein
Okay, thank you so much.

Habiba
Thank you