A Week Without Social Media. Was It Worth It?

One fine Saturday afternoon, I was just scrolling over my social media feed, and then suddenly a thought occurred to me.

It was definitely a thought but it felt more like a challenge. The inner me was telling me, actually challenging me, "Okay Nams, How about you delete all your social media accounts for some days?"
And then it went on to say, "I bet you cannot do it. You cannot live without Social media after all."

And, I know this may sound really vague and you may be thinking, "Oh, c'mon! There must be something, at least some reasons that could have triggered you to think or challenge yourself like that."

Now, I won't lie. Of course, there was.

Firstly,

I came across many blogs and YouTube videos where people used to say that, living without social media completely changed their life and now they feel happier and that all of us should try it. So, I really wanted to try it myself and just see if it would make me happy.

Secondly,

Since the country was/is still in the effect of the pandemic and the situation isn't normalized yet, I had nothing important to do. So, of course, I avoided using my phone in the first hour of the day. But, later I used to be on my phone all the time. My screen time excelled up to 8-9 hours a day and that was just ridiculous to me. I felt the need to control myself.

And that's how this whole thing started. I decided that I will try living without Social media for at least a week.
I didn't delete my accounts permanently but I deleted my most used apps which included Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp from my phone.

Now, In retrospect,

A week in the life of mine without social media helped me see things through both positive and negative perspectives.

First, let's talk about the POSITIVES.

7 days without social media taught me the value of living in Solitude. Now, I know Solitude is not really desirable by so many people, but, distancing myself from everyone and everything (even if it was just for a few days), gave me more time to understand, value, appreciate, and love myself and my existence.

I didn't feel the need to follow or catch up with everyone's stories and posts like a ritual. Neither did I feel the need to showcase my daily life and post some pretty-looking pictures just to impress other people. I didn't care about the number of likes and comments that my picture received, or felt frustrated about always having to text people first just to keep the toxic relationship alive, or argued with my mom to buy me something just because the so-called influencer had it, or explained and justified myself for doing or saying how I feel, or I can just go on and on but It's funny just to think about how much I cared about this petty stuff earlier when in fact none of these really mattered to me.

Earlier, If I saw something beautiful like Uh say, Sunsets, the first thing that I did was take a picture of it and post it. In that process, I barely enjoyed the sunset. But, these past days, I saw some beautiful sunsets, I did take a picture to reminisce it but I didn't feel the need to post it.  I sat there by myself and just enjoyed the sunset and realized that these little moments with myself and my surrounding was what really mattered to me.

A week without social media also taught me that I am responsible for my own happiness and my own sadness. Other people on social media do not have the right to control my life. Because the only person that I have to impress is myself not others. The only validation I need is from myself and not others.

Now, talking about the NEGATIVE.

If I really have to be honest, then, in a way, I did feel awful as well.

Wait, what?

But, what about all the things that you said earlier, Nams?

See, you guys, life today is based on advanced technologies. The benefits of social media for students, businesses, and for everyone, in general, is just profound. It has made our life so much easier. But, I know it is also true that it has also encouraged some bad practices. Making us feel insecure about ourselves, comparing with others and stuffs like that.

What a week without social media taught me was to make myself aware of these bad practices.  Now, I am definitely aware. In fact, as soon as I logged into my social media accounts yesterday, I made sure to unsubscribe and unfollow everyone and everything that encouraged bad practices.  My social feed now looks like an information provider, just the difference is only good and helpful information that makes me feel good about myself.

But, trying to get back to the old and traditional days will definitely feel horrible.

Now, what I mean is, taking some time off everything once in a while to just nurture yourself is highly recommended.  But, we are social animals. We need a company and a sense of belonging. That is one of the reasons, I could only stay without social media for only a week. (*Sighs and *Laughs) !!

So, to put it all together,

What I really mean is, completely abandoning the use of social media in today's world is not an option, (at least that's how I felt and feel) but it's about limiting the way we use it.

Do we choose to use it to continue encouraging ourselves to feel insecure or use it in a way that works as an information provider and that encourages you to be better?

The choice is yours.

So, my friends, that was my experience of a week without social media and it was totally worth it. It made me aware and encouraged me to control and limit myself to the extent and the ways of how I use it. Now, I don't feel the need to use social media for timepass but for a PURPOSE.

What are your experiences and thoughts on living without social media?

Let me know in the comments below. I would love to read it.

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