Social Media Break Up. One Month In.

Every year, right before Christmas, I take a break from social media. I make one final post about my year. And prep for the next.

My relationship with social media has been a mixed one, as I’m sure it has for many, coming into my life in my early teens when I would spend hours and hours agonising over what song would be on my profile, or who would be in my ‘Top 8’.

It’s been a constant, ever-increasing burden.

Since working in marketing, that relationship has dwindled slightly, interacting with it all day makes the desire for interacting with it all night seem a just that little less desirable.

So, a month on, here’s a few things I’ve learnt along the way, and a few things I replaced the endless scrolling and strained eyes with.

People don’t care

Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh, but there’s so much other stuff out there to grab their attention that your absence from it doesn’t seem so extreme. Nobody checks in. Nobody seems to think of you, or care in the way you want or hoped they would. But that’s really, quite okay. It shows you who your friends are.

FOMO doesn’t exist

I can scroll for hours and see photos of travels, of fancy restaurants or people I’d love to be. But really, there’s nothing I enjoy more than getting my pyjamas on and bundling on the couch with a brew. And I’d be totally okay with telling the Instagram world about that.

Pages over profiles

I decided to set myself what might seem a reasonable challenge, but to read 22 books in 2022. I smashed through 2 before we’d hit the second week of Jan. My mind travelled further reading those pages than it ever has scrolling at pictures of far flung places.

So, will socmed and I get back together? Yeah, probably. But will it be such a big part of my life? No. Because I love being able to leave the house without my phone. Because I love to read physical pages. Because I love to let my mind wander.

Social media can be for the good. But so can taking a break.

Photo by Kerde Severin from Pexels