The Joys of a Social Media-less Existence

“God is there anything I need to fast?” I asked, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram.

Social media. 

“But, I use it for business purposes. I have to have social media, it’s important to build my following.”

A few days later:

Friend 1: “I’m fasting all this month.”

Me: “Oh, awesome! So proud of you, what are you fasting?”

Friend 1: “Social media.”

A few days later:

Friend 2: “I started my social media fast a month ago and haven’t felt the need to reinstall any of the apps on my phone. I’m truly happier without it!”

Okay, God, I get it. I’ll cut out social media. 

Honestly, it’s been a great decision for me. I feel so much better when I’m not falling into the trap of mindless scrolling.

Earlier this week, we discussed being sober for 24 hours at a time and I think everyone should try abstaining from social media for 24 hours and see what happens. Seriously, it’s well worth a try. I’m by no means trying to vilify social media, there are some very beneficial things about it, but I do think it’s grown to be out of control in our society.

Social media controls more people than control it.

Without realizing it, I had become a slave to social media. It was part of my daily routine: wake up, turn off my alarm, check texts, emails, Instagram, and Twitter every day in that order with almost no deviation, then get out of bed. I had, unintentionally, created a habit where I started off my day comparing myself to others. I opened up the door to start the day off in a bad mood if I saw something on Twitter I didn’t like (which is almost every time I’m on there). And I fueled my addiction to my device.

Sure, I’m probably going to lose some fans or followers and I might get fewer clicks over to my website, blog, or books, but I’m okay with that. I’m realizing that my emotional health is more important than my social media stats.

The most interesting part of the process is that cutting alcohol out of my life was a lot easier than cutting out social media. The past few weeks have been a revelation of just how attached to these various platforms I had become and it has been a good learning experience for me.

I will get back onto social media at some point in time, but I’ll be sure to set up clear boundaries when I do. I’m choosing to no longer be a slave to my phone, to the likes, or the followers and I’m so glad that I am.

Is there anything that you need to go without for a day? A week? A month?

Have you ever fasted social media? What was that like?

To go Deeper: Read Sober 24 Hours, That Pesky Green-eyed Monster

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