So, I gave up Facebook for a week, mostly to see if I could do it. I did lapse one time on my most stressful day during the week, checking my feed yo soothe my anxiety. That was a weird realization, seeing that was something that relieved my unrelated stress.
Otherwise, I stayed away and I can admit that in moments mostly of boredom, it was hard. When I wanted to do research for a review I was working in, I had to rely on other sources. And, I didn't get to share any selfies, even when I really wanted to because I had some awesome times with friends that I wanted to share!
But alas, I came to a conclusion: my participation in social media is a lot of ego stroking. It's mostly to share things that are going on with me, happened to me, or are interesting to me. Me, me, me. Sure, thats applicable to some degree maybe for a couple family members and close friends, but mostly a bunch of stuff people don't care about.
You know how I know they don't care? Because as I was away from the constant updates of everyone's lives from high school acquaintances to immediate family, I realized I didn't miss their updates. Everything I wanted or needed to know, I found out directly from my friends and family during this time. It made me feel connected to them, in a real way. You know, like it used to be.
To summarize my experience, I would say these things:
1) It was embarrassingly hard, and I didn't succeed the whole week at avoiding social media. I was truly addicted to it and had urges to check it often for the first couple days especially.
2) It was freeing and I was more present in my own life, paying attention to what was around me instead of constantly seeing who posted a meme or picture or update.
3) I realized largely how senseless it is and how I want to change my use of social media to only connect with people I am actually close to.
4) It opened my eyes to just how much we are willing to share with people that we don't know that well. I had never really thought about how personal some of the experiences shared on fb or social media are and that many of the people that share them haven't spoken with the person posting in years, in person. It takes away the sacredness of special moments when everyone experiences them, especially if they don't have an active part in your life. For example, if you haven't spoken to someone since you were in high school, do they need to see your baby bump grow, or know the details of your recent relationship struggle? Social media has become a public arena for pretty much everything,-but if we all had every friend on our list in a room together, would we share the same things in person? Likely not. I realized how strange of a social paradox that is and how I would like to move forward in a different direction.
5) Almost nothing is all that important online. When it comes down to it, there are few moments that really beg your attention on social media. It's a tool that has become grossly over used and misused in a lot of ways. All I can do is speak for myself in saying I would like to use social media on an as needed basis, or for periodic entertainment, not for a social update of everyone's lives that barely touch my own.
Now, I'm going to get back to living in the real world, I'll see you back on here sometime I'm sure, but for now it's nice to breathe away from it.
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