1 month experiment: Staying away from Social Media

In the early week of July 2019, I decided to cut down on my usage of social media usage as I was feeling pretty down and stressed. The main reason why I quitted using Facebook and Instagram is that it felt like a burden to keep my Instagram updated. I had to edit the image and think of the captions. Although I enjoy the creative process, I am neither inspired nor motivated to keep it going. On top of that, I am tired of seeing some of the feeds in my account.

On that fateful day, I decided to log out and hide my Facebook and Instagram apps on my phone. I didn't force myself not to use for one month. I decided to go with the flow, or rather be mindful with the usage. Do I want to continue to proceed? Do I really want to use them? Even if I accidentally opened the app and did some mindless swiping, I would not bash myself.

It was easy on the first few days as I honestly have no good reason to use my Facebook or Instagram. I had nothing to post. Is anyone interested in what I ate that day? Is anyone tracking if I exercise regularly? Is anyone interested in my deepest darkest thoughts? The answer is obviously no.

Let's be honest, people are checking out your account to check out potential new hunts. Some may want to know what's happening on with your life, especially if you have friends overseas. Again, when you catch up with your friends from abroad, you would chat about such occasions. So, how much is there to upload?

As the days' progress, life happens. I can't avoid Facebook and Instagram totally. However, I started to realise that I was no longer interested in some of the feeds. I can stop myself from scrolling through the posts aimlessly too. I am learning to use my social media accounts with intention.

I observed that I would use my computer to access my Instagram and Facebook, but I mainly used that to reply to comments. Notifications do not bother me as much as before. Honestly, I think that it's easier to delete the apps from your phone and use it only on the iPad or desktop. There's no distraction. I find it easier to be more intentional about my usage this way, as I can only see the post that I was replying on my desktop. However, I try not to use these platform on these devices too.

I realised that I mainly used the app to see what my friends are up to. During the third week, I unfollowed and mute accounts that no longer inspire me or make me happy. Now, I would unfollow or mute accounts that I no longer enjoy too, and I don't feel guilty about doing this.

During this one month, while I am staying away from social media, I do have more time on hand. I also started to pay more attention to my inner monologue. I learnt to block out noise. It was not worth my time, energy and attention. Part of me believes that social media is creating a lot of noise, and is vying for our attention. However, I didn't expect that it would condition me to pay attention to so many other things that are not worth the investment.

Isn’t it great that Instagram is tracking the duration of our usage? I like it even more when I know I did not spend too much of time on my social media account.

Now that the one month experiment is over, I felt like I can use these accounts more intentionally than before. I would continue to avoid them as much as possible, and only used it when I need to or feel like it. I would still continue to use them as they are my bread and butter. To be honest, my life has not changed much. It's always the same.

Let me know if you have tried out social media detox. How did you feel after that?

That's all.

x, Esther