Social media has always acted as a filler for me in my everyday life. Whether it’s waiting for class to begin or waiting in line, my mindless online scrolling was becoming monotonous. I decided to challenge myself and delete all of my social media apps for a week to prove to myself that I could live without social media. So I deleted Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and VSCO and made the only life I would be looking at all week be my own.
On day one I found myself unlocking my phone to go click on social media apps that weren’t there. I kept wondering what other people were up to, what was trending on Twitter, what was being posted on Instagram, what’s the newest meme. I felt like I was already out of the loop.
When I would sit on a shuttle or in class I would notice everyone around me sitting on their phone to avoid having to communicate with one another. Everyone was in their own little world. I even noticed my own friends weren’t fully listening to me when I would talk because they were too focused on looking down at their phone.
By the end of the week, I found myself not worrying about what I was missing. I would wake up in the mornings and begin my day with a clear mindset since I wasn’t making my first thoughts of the day about other people. I ended up having more time to complete assignments, get dinner with friends, and go to the gym. I kept answering the questions “do you miss it” and “is it hard” with “no anyone can do it.” Anyone can do a social media cleanse whenever they need to.
When I finally re-downloaded all of my apps I had a fun time catching up on everything that had gone on all week. Even though I spent almost an hour catching up on liking pics, watching videos and looking at Coachella outfits, I still didn’t spend as much time on social media as I used to.
What I’ve Taken Away From This Week:
- You will live if you don’t Snapchat your dinner
- Not every picture you take has to become measured by likes
- Hanging out with friends is way more fun when you actually put your phone down
- You can’t put a filter on your real life
- True happiness cannot be measured in likes and retweets
- There’s nothing wrong with social media as long as you don’t let it overpower your life
In the future, I hope to not go on social media for a day or two at least twice a month. If you are considering stepping away from social media, even just for a few days, take this as a sign to do it! You will be able to have a clearer headspace and realize what is important and what isn’t.