People argue that social media is ambiguous, not good or not bad. While I understand the principle behind this notion, I am immediately drawn to the harm that it can have on people. Social media is a virtual planet of comparison, political inundation and false realities. For me, life is too short to waste my time sharing, comparing, and liking. That is why I deleted it all.
To begin, I have never been much of a social media person. I had Snapchat for a year, Facebook just to check in with family, and TikTok for a few months. In high school, I was in my Instagram era. My sister dabbled in photography so we would have photoshoots for fun.
It became an issue when I realized I was checking my posts for how many likes they got or going back to the comments for validation. I hate that I ever cared in the first place, but instant gratification is in our human nature, so it makes sense. Thereafter, I would go in waves of deleting social media and then redownloading it again.
Finally, over winter break, I said I am done for good. Without it, I am not on my phone as much, I am present in conversations, and I am not mindlessly scrolling in an attempt to pass the time or hide from what I am thinking about.
I still have Pinterest and Youtube. You can not convince me to get rid of Pinterest; it’s everything to me. Where else am I supposed to plan my future wedding, find new dinner recipes or look at videos for arts and crafts?
My next step is to delete my previous social media accounts for good so that I am not tempted to return to them. However, I may re-download Instagram for when I study abroad next year so I can make vlogs for my five friends. That sounds super hypocritical and against my whole point…but at least I am self-aware?
To step away from social media it may look different for everyone. For some people, the setting on your phone that will limit certain apps works. I don’t have that kind of self-control. I would override that setting in a second. It may also help to have your phone charger not next to your bed so you aren’t scrolling before you try to sleep.
One of my favorite things about not having social media is that I get to learn all the pop culture drama from my friends, so they get my real-time reaction. I think it is more authentic to share stories by talking to others instead of posting them.
I am not saying that social media is terrible for everyone, and we should just quit it because that is not realistic. It is just something that wasn’t healthy for me, and I am so much more mindful and intentional without it.