Letting go of social media
20/08/2023

I've been trying to, as the kids say, stop being " chronically online" and " touch grass ". I haven't been opening twitter or instagram in the past month or so and yesterday was the day I deactivated both of those for good, and now the only traditional social media I sometimes browse is tumblr, which I would love to delete sometime too.

Lately I've been analyzing my use of social media and I started to think about something.

Does anything I look at actually add any value to my day?
Does any of it have an impact on me?
Did it even entertain me at all?

The way most media is made these days (specially short-form content on apps like TikTok or Instagram reels or even YouTube shorts) is that it's not meant to inform you or entertain you or speak to you in any way, all they're trying to do is to make sure you watch the video. That you stop scrolling and you watch it. The result is something soulless. Something devoid of purpose which you'll most definitely forget about in under 10 minutes, which wouldn't be so bad if the most popular form of consuming this short-form content wasn't hours of nonstop scrolling - By the end of it, you don't even remember anything that you saw and you're left just as bored, just as empty.
I was never a user of TikTok, I would sometimes download the app and go to a certain account and scroll and then leave and delete it, but that doesn't mean I was free from this. I would so easily get stuck in Instagram reels or YouTube shorts and even though all I wanted to do was stop scrolling it felt like I was stuck! I couldn't stop! And by the end of it hours had passed by, and I would always feel like absolute garbage. I regret so much wasting tens of hours of my life doing absolutely nothing. And this was one of the biggest reasons of my departure from majority of social media, and if you feel like your time was stolen from you in the same way, then I beg of you to try going without social media. Even if for just a couple days, or a week, or two or three, whatever - And just see what that does to you.
Try to focus on your hobbies. Focus on what makes you actually happy and FULFILLED.

Focus on what adds value to your life.

There is so much more than meaningless videos and brain-rotting discourse on the internet. I know it's quite a boomer take, but sometimes it IS that darn phone, sometimes you do have to take a walk outside and get some fresh air, touch the flowers, look at the sky. And most importantly spend time with your loved ones.

On that same topic, I've had the idea of getting a second phone - A flip phone, with only like, a messenger app and GPS and maybe a little game to pass the time. And only take THAT whenever I go out, so all the interweb fun stays at home and I have no excuse to stay in my bubble even in public spaces. Phones have so so much! You can do freaking everything with a phone nowadays! God did not intend for us to have a magic device on hand at all times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS WANTS YOU TO HAVE A CLUNKY YELLOWED PERSONAL COMPUTER AND A SHITTY FLIP PHONE