I Stopped Using Social Media for 2 Years, This is What Happened.

In January of 2016 I took a vow never to use social media again. My digital existence was reduced a pebble.

I ceremoniously deleted Twitter off my phone,

Then Snapchat,

Then Instagram,

Then Pinterest,

Then… Facebook.

Then I wasn’t even a blip on Regina George’s social media radar. And it felt so good.

If you want to explore taking your own digital cleanse, here’s 6 positive reasons to do so:

1) You start realizing your had other hobbies in your life besides scrolling on your phone

What! I briefly enjoyed inline skating when I was 8 - you’re saying I actually had other hobbies too!? Yes, this might surprise you, but when you stop pulling out your phone out whenever you have 5 minutes to kill, you start filling up your time with the next best thing that comes to mind to keep yourself entertained. I found out that next best thing turned out usually being way more awesome than scrolling on my phone, constantly switching apps to check my social media feeds to see my friends post 3 versions of the same thing happening in their lives at the moment.

I started learning new songs on piano again. I did my chores. I picked up a few books. I worked out. I picked up the phone and called my best friend to catch up. I made plans.

2) SO MUCH TIME.

In the first 6 months where I’ve been social media free, I trained for and ran my first half marathon. I helped plan a conference. I applied and was appointed on a county commission. I read 9 books for my own pleasure. 9!

Yes, it’s really that dramatic.

3) You don’t know what just went viral Suddenly you’re wondering why everyone’s wearing backpacks like it’s the middle of the day all day and there’s this new repetitive arm swinging dance move that you’ve never seen before in the club? Have no idea where it came from? It came from a viral video called “the backpack kid."

Your friends talking about that meme where someone drew inanimate Disney characters as humans and the African lion king characters are white and mr. potato head is black?

Didn’t realize that the 45th just twitted some bullshit? Good for you.

Yeah, you might not always know wtf is going on in the digital realm, but you’ll hear about it. It’s ok, 99% of the time you won’t feel like your missing out on anything. And any good friend will show you what everyone’s talking about if it’s that important.

4) You sometimes have to log in again I still have a LinkedIn. I glance over peoples shoulders and see what’s on their feed sometimes. Sometimes there’s just that post you HAVE to see. If I forget my password for something, sometimes I have log into Facebook in order to get access to another app. This happened with me for my Tidal account. It also happened when I bought my Coachella tickets. I was very upset at this, but when one is in a high pressure situation to buy Coachella tickets, sometimes you have to suck it up and put away your values for Beyonce.

But in general, the only reason why I had to log into Facebook again is because it is EVERYWHERE. I had to log in again to disable receiving text messages from FB because at one point I was getting several text messages a day saying “so-and-so just posted this ridiculously adorable thing you MUST LOOK AT NOW…” or “so-and-so grandma died and your didn’t comment your condolences you heartless bitch.” Well not exactly, but kind of. These text messages were an odd reminder to me to how ingrained our social media existence was to our real world lives. Sometimes these reminders did make me feel like I was missing out, but it never stopped me from sending a text or making a phone call after. This leads me to my next point…

5) You start focusing on the people in your real life. And you recognize those people who were a part of your life that no longer present in your life as in the past. This is something that I learned to appreciate more and more the longer I was social media free. I felt like I realized that my social media audience wasn’t really representative of the people who I spend the most time interacting with in real life, and of the people I was most interested in either.

I had a stalker that started adding my family members on social media. I also exchanged comments online with a person I thought I was still friends with despite only talking to each other online the day before they took their own life. Social media isn’t real. It can’t replace the real.

6) You have a greater appreciation for being present in the moment, You stop using your phone as a shield.

I have a habit of lifting up my phone whenever I feel awkward. Yes, my phone is my security blanket for social anxiety. When you don’t use your phone a shield, you can engage in so many more pleasant conversations, you notice things in the room with you like nice flowers or your coworkers new shoes. Or you can just breathe. Sometimes we really don’t breathe enough. Stop pretending you got good reception in the elevator anyway.

After two years

I did rejoin Pinterest and became a sort of Pinterest fiend (so guilty) – um but its so perfect for wedding planning though!

I also rejoined Instagram when I decided I wanted to announce our engagement. No other social media though.

I think now I have a better understanding of limiting my usage, but it is hard to avoid social media’s addictive qualities. I use an app on my phone called Moment to track my use. It sends me reminders of how much time I've spent on my phone and if I've gone over my daily limit.

After about 8 months back on Instagram, I may go on a social media cleanse again, just to give myself a break. I go over my Moment daily limit almost everyday!! Which totally cuts into the benefits I mention above. It's about time. Which after my first experience, I know social media will still be there in a few months if I really care to use it.