Man... Seriously why I can't just enjoy social media in peace

If you ran from it immediately, then no. Bu the thing I want you to remember is this: If you're trying to figure out how far you can go without it being a strike, then you've already crossed the line in your mind.

 

My advice delete all social media asap. I am going to do it.

 

Humans are not even meant for social media, so why not quit it anyway?
See it as an opportunity to throw two rotten potatoes into the trashcan.

 

I cut off the internet: I make sure that I enjoy at least 8.5 daily offline hours. The internet is mostly full of sexual content on every website.

 

What he is sorta saying is that if you push the limits of what is or is not porn, your mind will pornify things that could be innocent. For me tight clothing on women is porn because of my habits from when my addiction was worse. I have to be very careful to guard my eyes when I go to the gym because a lot of the girls there wear clothing that is problematic for me.

 

First things first. Is it a relapse? Well, that depends on your specific goals. By the standard definition generally given, it won't be considered as such. You didn't consciously seek out P and you didn't MO. But the deeper truth is that it depends entirely on your reboot goals. There's no guideline for your particular reboot because it's for your particular brain and your particular goals. An important and specific way to think about it is; am I activating the same pathways / feeding the same behavior in my brain that leads to P / MO consumption? You know the answer, even if you don't like it. Most of us, myself included, cannot tell you concretely what that answer is. So self reflection is incredibly important here, especially if you genuinely want change.

But, knowingly or not, you've done a fair bit already. Social media is designed, by its very nature, to work along with the dopamine hit we receive when we browse it. It's not natural, and it's debatably considered one of the hyperstimuli of the digital age that is sabotaging the primitive reward center in our brain and shorting it out. You're going to see a lot of users recommend you cut social media, and honestly? It might be necessary in your case. P-use on a neurochemical level functions the same as an addiction. It's why even though he may love the food, an alcoholic probably won't go to an Applebees (popular bar and grill for you users who don't know) for a while until he knows he can stay away from the bar and drinks - and even then, he might realize he just has to go somewhere else or order it online. It's a functional metaphor for this.

I'm not going to tell you to outright quit social media because I did, or because most people do, or even because of the literature on it. But, you do need to do what is best for your recovery in this instance. You stated that you can't be safe on social media? There's no harm in quitting it then. Your brain might crave the dopamine hit from it, but it's far better to distance yourself from it especially if it's giving you the issues you've already recognized for yourself. You don't need any of us to tell you the pitfalls, you already know them.

"Is it a relapse though?" You removed yourself from the situation pretty quickly, but I can only assume as I was not there to see. You know whether or not you consciously lingered on it, and that's more important because we want to avoid activating those pathways consciously as much as possible. So in a way, don't obsess over whether or not this counts as a relapse - think about what you can do to avoid this happening again. That might involve quitting social media, or if you use it as a means to keep in touch with long distance friends, limit it heavily (unfollow / unsubscribe to literally anyone you don't know personally / just do that and use messaging functions) or find a different app where there's no 'posting' or likes or any of that, and speak with them there. I used to live on Instagram, I can sympathize with how much it was embedded into my life. But I got rid of it, I know if I decided to make that choice you can too.