Can you manage not checking your social media accounts for a day? A week? A year?
Sivert Klefsaas did just that — for 6 years, when challenged by his mother to stay off social media. Crazy impressive.
Inspired by a similar challenge she heard on the radio named ”16 for 16”, Lorna Goldstrand Klefsaas asked her 12-year-old son Sivert to refrain from using social media until he turned 18 — in exchange for money if he accomplished it. On February 19, 2022, Sivert became $1800 richer.
The young man said he was not immensely challenged, since he didn’t often use social media anyway. He even told CNN that it was awesome and he did not think about it too much. And he didn’t have to go without the latest information and trends - he got those from his friends.
“I thought, 'Ah what's 6 more years?' I wouldn't say there was ever a time where I thought I was about to break,” Sivert recalled.
Lorna never felt the need to check for secretly-downloaded apps. "He's so competitive, it was definitely more for proving a point," she said. Her son agreed, “As it went on, it was more of a pride thing."
Now that the time has come for Sivert’s debut in using social media, guess what his first app of choice is? Instagram.
"There's definitely a learning curve," Sivert said. "I see my friends fly through their social media apps and I can't do that quite yet."
After his son’s achievement, Lorna shared the challenge to other parents and said it was the best $1800 she spent.
"We are certainly not against social media, but it's the healthy using of it," Lorna noted. "It's about not letting yourself get weighed down by it, or addicted to it, or affected by things that people post."
Image credit: Lorna Goldstrand Klefsaas