Social media, it’s one of the highlights of our generation and an important part of a lot of people’s everyday lives. As millennials we often here older generations criticising and complaining about how antisocial we are and how we’re always glued to our phones. I always thought this seemed really hypocritical, because before Facebook there were newspapers and books you could hide behind instead of talking to people.
Recently I felt downtrodden and not social at all, and yet I found myself scrolling unhappily through Facebook and Instagram. I realized the source of my unhappiness was the very thing I was relying on to keep me connected to the world. So I made a decision to give up social media for a week, and later it became an experience I could write about.
Day One
You don’t realize just how plugged into social media you are until that connection is gone. I talk to everyone on Facebook, and Snapchat allows me to see my friends from all over the world enjoying life. I’m no longer talking to my friends in other countries because I don’t have a way to reach out to them.
Day Two
Friends and family began to notice my presence offline, and I’ve been bombarded with texts and messages making sure I’m not lying in a gutter somewhere. I’m flattered that so many people care, but I’m also a little disturbed by how often I’m on social media that people notice when I’m not.
Day Three
I’ve begun to notice that I start straying to my social apps when I’m bored. So I switched it up a bit and watched Netflix.
Day Four
Realizing I’m lonely without social media is one thing, trying to do something about it is another. I’ve texted friends to point that they’re ready to reach through their phones and throttle me.
Day Five
Notifications are really starting to rack up. I wonder if anyone has tagged me in the comments of a cute baby hedgehog video…
Day Six
I was too busy studying for my midterm today to notice my phone all that much. Less social media = one less way to procrastinate. Of course, there’s always makeup tutorials on YouTube.
Day Seven
Today I got dinner with a friend, which was a nice change to simply talking to her online. It was a nice way to end the experiment, and I even managed to get some chores done!
Before I started this experiment, I was upset and unhappy, watching my life and the lives of my friends through cameras. I had to watch as the world kept on moving even though I really just needed a timeout. Now I’m happy with or without social media and the people on it.
Just because you choose not to see something, doesn’t mean it’s not there. And sometimes not knowing is worse. I’ve given up the internet and my phone in the past because of the places I’ve traveled to not having internet or cell service. But voluntarily giving up social media is different from giving it up out of necessity. I miss it. Could I live without social media? Of course, but if I could choose to keep it in my life I would. Now that I’ve done this experiment the only thing I’ll say is I’m no longer going to live through a screen, I’m going to live my life, and my screen is just going to have to deal with my absence occasionally.