A Life Lived Without Social Media

Can we learn anything from a life without social media?

The peaceful reality of life without the burden of social media

© creativemaxx.com

My brother (aged 20) and I (aged 22) are polar opposites in every way imaginable, despite only a two-year age gap. One of the most striking differences is that my brother is twenty years old and has NEVER had a social media account (I hear you gasp with horror.)

But actually, I think we have a lot to learn from him.

Although I might be the really cool older sister (in my mind) and the favourite child (also in my mind), there are many qualities which I very much admire in my younger brother, despite finding him unbelievably irritating 99% of the time.

For a start, we have lived very different lives. I grew up far too young, experiencing most things I really shouldn’t have by the age of 15. I blame a lot of this on my exposure to social media. My brother, on the other hand, seems like a 20 year old trapped in a 90 year old man’s body, enjoying a life similar to that of an ex-pat on retirement; with cheese, wine and a good book. He seems to have cunningly bypassed all the milestones of life as a typical British teenager, escaping unscathed without any Facebook ‘timehops’ of statuses from 2012 haunting you for years to come.

Whilst my teens were spent locked in my bedroom, trying to find the perfect angles and lighting for an evening barrage of selfies on Facebook, or arguing with strangers on Twitter, or Snapchatting guys in the year above me, my brother developed a really lovely group of similar-minded boys at his secondary school.

By similar-minded, I mean extremely introverted boys, who never had a ‘rebel’ phase and spent their time playing chess and visiting the cinema.

…and that’s a crucial point. He is probably far more SOCIABLE than a lot of us. We use social media as a guise, a false representation of who we are and most ironically, to avoid real-life social interactions.

The most amazing thing that my brother and his friends have in common is that they do not use social media. My brother is the most dramatically ‘anti-social media’ out of the lot. Having never ever had a social media account of any kind and totally uninterested in ever creating one, he does however use the classic burner phone, a Nokia 6030 indestructible brick which requires, wait for it…. A TOP UP CREDIT VOUCHER, available from the ASDA customer service desk (I’m sure he’s their only customer).

The good ol’ faithful Nokia 6030

©nokiacollections.com

The most frustrating part about it is that it is switched off most of the time- meaning he is basically uncontactable.

With all being said, he has appeared to have a significantly happier teenage life than I ever did. He has never seemed bothered or even exposed to the pressures of fashion trends and lives in total blissful ignorance about what his peers are up to. Not only that, but he has always come across as very self-assured. He knows what he likes and what he doesn’t — he doesn’t feel obliged to adhere to social conventions (and socks and sandals as a regular outfit choice confirms that) but he is incredibly happy and stress-free.

My brother doesn’t have to worry about who’s hooking up with who at the college or brag about drunken weekend antics, instead his biggest challenge is pressing the teeny tiny phone keys multiple times to get the right letter.. and repeat.. and repeat… The memory of this gives me chills.

Not only does he not have to worry about what others are up to and whether his life is good enough in comparison, he’s only in contact with actual friends… if someone can be bothered to write a text to you using micro number keys for each letter, then they probably like you. So much time is wasted comparing yourself to people you barely know, maybe you met them once two years ago or you went to school together- if they’re not someone you would say ‘hi’ to in the street, there’s little point seeing every update about their equally monotonous lives or a daily pic of their Cornflakes.

The bottom line is, having lived your entire life without a social media in this day and age is utterly remarkable (and quite absurd that it is so remarkable).

Although he may be missing out on some aspects of modern communication, my brother and his friends live a relatively old-fashioned and peaceful life away from the hectic, competitive battlefield of social media and I wish I could do the same.