This fall break, I decided to disconnect from social media. For 3 days, I went “off the grid” and deleted Instagram and Snapchat; two things that seemed to suck up a lot of my free time. I’ve read numerous studies throughout high school and college that assert social media has a strong influence on mental health issues, competitiveness, and self image issues. While I can’t definitively say that social media has these effects on me specifically, I can admit it doesn’t make a completely positive impact. Especially in college, Instagram and Snapchat are my main outlets to find out where people are, what they are doing, and “how happy they are”. I put that in quotations, as social media in actuality is a fake environment. So many people draw conclusions based on such small snippets of people’s lives that they post on social media, but this “highlight reel” is far from the reality. I decided to put myself to the test and see how I would do without social media, and more importantly, how I would feel not being able to check on other people’s lives.
I have always enjoyed the outdoors, I love to run, walk my dog, and visit the beach in my hometown. With all the stress of midterms the week before break, I was excited to have some down time to pick up these hobbies again, as I was all work and no leisure or even physical activity as of recently. The first Saturday of break, I deleted Instagram and Snapchat. I spent the entire day catching up with my family, getting unpacked, and reacquainting with my familiar surroundings. I even started reading a book I had been itching to start all summer but never got around to. The following days, I made it a point to take a walk everyday for at least an hour.
On my walks, I started to really take note of my surroundings. I took new trails at my local park, really absorbed the fall foliage, and was not pressed for time because I wasn’t checking it. After my walks, I found myself wanting to drive around my downtown, which is under major construction. Especially being away for bigger chunks of time, a lot had changed since I was last home. I felt more in touch and more present once I witnessed everything I had previously missed. When I come home for break, I always feel like I have some obligation to see everyone else that is home. Without media, I didn’t feel a need to reach out, and further, no one knew I was home. While this sounds a little lonely, I actually thoroughly enjoyed it because I felt like the entire break was only dedicated to myself and my family rather than others. With this, each day felt a lot more productive because not only was I doing things for myself, but I wasn’t getting distracted by checking my phone or media in the middle of a task. I was even more excited to get up in the morning and go downstairs, as I wasn’t sitting in my bed for 10-15 minutes checking up on social media and then potentially falling into a hole or going back to sleep.
When it came to the 4th day, the day I had planned to redownload the apps, I had actually forgotten I only chose to do this activity for 3 days. I was not itching to get them back and ended up going the whole week without them. I had realized that with both extended time in nature and extended time away from the masses, how distracted and how derailing two little apps are to my day to day life, productiveness, relationships, and self care. I learned that it is not a necessity even though I had prioritized it as one. Needless to say, I am currently on an anti social media wave.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to know where people are, what they are up to, and how they are doing. However, it isn’t crucial to getting through the day. While cliche, some people live by the concept that you must put on your oxygen mask before assisting others. While it may be an extreme motto to LIVE by, I have realized that I have a lot of parts of myself I want to work on. Worrying about others, especially through social media, constantly prevents me from doing so. Spending time with myself should not consist of scrolling through images of others. There is a difference, and focusing completely on yourself is a much more alleviating experience. Although social media does not take a severe toll on my mental health, I now realize that even the smallest thoughts I have when seeing media of others are not permeating my inner monologue. I appreciate that other’s lives aren’t crowding it. I feel more in touch with myself, more confident in myself, and happier with myself. After all, you are, and should be, your biggest fan – you’re all you’ve got.