Why I’ve Deleted All My Social Media
It didn’t make my life better, but social media companies tricked me into thinking it did
On December 22nd, I deleted my Snapchat (On January 22nd, the data was destroyed). On January 20th, I deleted my Facebook (on February 20th, it will no longer be possible for me to log in, but my data will persist until sometime in April). On February 1st, I deleted my Instagram. Today, I’ve deleted my Twitter.
I’ve realized that not only can a person live without social media, living without social media is easier than living with it.
This, of course, begs the question, “then why does everyone have social media?”
Social media is designed to hijack our brains. It uses our instinctive drive for social approval against us — when we see we have a notification, it’s the instinctive drive for social approval that makes it so, so enticing to check. That, and the fact that those little notifications are engineered to trigger curiosity and task-switching.
I won’t reinvent the wheel by trying to convince you myself. If you’re unconvinced, read the following books:
