Why I Stopped Using Social Media
And why maybe you should too
Social media is undoubtedly one of the best and worst inventions of our generation.
It is truly a game-changer. Having the ability to reach and captivate a wide audience, it provides endless possibilities. From initially being purely ‘social’ and allowing people to share about their lives, to the ‘influencers’ and ‘social media marketing’ scene today, social media is a powerful tool. It can connect people all over the world, and facilitates the sharing of thoughts, ideas, and human experiences.
But it also has the power to take all these away.
My personal experience with social media started in school. At that time, only Facebook was commonly used, and mostly for networking and marketing purposes rather than a ‘social’ platform.
Slowly, the ‘social’ in ‘social media’ became more prevalent, and other platforms such as Twitter and Instagram started popping up. More people started to use these platforms, and it was a quickly growing trend.
The social media revolution swept through the Internet, and before we knew it, it took over the world.
At first, I was enthralled by these platforms. There was never a dull moment, and every minute, every second, I could catch up with what was going on currently.
From the latest news, to what my friends were doing at the moment, keeping up to date with all these tidbits of information became so ingrained into my daily life that I never realized how it was taking it over.
With the slightest vibration on my phone, I would immediately stop what I was doing to pick it up and check what I had ‘missed’.
Nevermind what was happening in the physical world, it was what happened in the virtual world that counted. Photos were essential, or there was no proof that it happened.
Every photo I posted, every caption I typed, I made sure was suitable for an audience. I was absolutely paranoid about how others thought about me. Before I released anything to my followers, I always made sure to think it through thoroughly.
Was I too ‘unglam’ in that photo? Or did I seem too ‘poser’? Did typing this long caption make me seem pretentious?
Even after posting, I would check the post hourly to see the number of likes I got. I lived for the validation of others. It made me happy, and in hindsight, it shouldn’t have.
As social media platforms grew, gradually, we stopped living in the moment.
And I missed it.
I missed having to experience events in real life without having to document it on some virtual platform online.
I missed having not to care about the likes or comments, about what other people thought of me.
I missed being myself, without trying to pretend that I was someone I’m not.
I realized that I really didn’t enjoy sharing details about my life, or posting photos about myself. I was (and still am) a very self-conscious and private person, and social media wasn’t really for me.
Yet, because of the validation I craved, because of my innate desire to fit in, I had forced myself to become someone I barely recognized.
So I changed.
Now, I mainly use social media as a consumer instead of a producer. I appreciate how it allows me to keep up to date with my friends’ lives, but that is all I use it for. No more obsessing over every new notification, no more caring about what others thought about me.
And that suited me well.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t use social media, but if social media feeds off your insecurities and deprives you of actually living in the moment, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the importance of these activities in your life. It really isn’t that hard to give it up.
Sure, you might lose your ‘following’, you might miss out on an occasional photo or post. You might not be the most in touch with everything going on at the moment.
But you are living your life. In real life.
And that is the most precious gift that life itself can give you.
