Why I Quit Social Media
I loved social media. I loved having friends compliment me for how "real" my posts were and how I helped others' self-esteem. I really thought the good was overwhelmingly better than the bad.
My husband Rob is not very active on social media, and often argued with me about how it could be a bad influence. I fiercely disagreed, but in the back of my mind, I knew there were tons of inappropriate posts constantly at my fingertips. Some of the content was provocative or triggering, or even induced jealousy in me. However, I argued, public life can be provocative, triggering, and covetous. Just because I was not seeing an image on social media did not mean that I would not see the same image in public. Likely, the same images are on the street. If one cannot handle what one sees on social media and control their lust and jealousy, the same cannot control those emotions when they see the same thing on the street. It is better to use social media and learn to control those emotions, than to block them out. One cannot block out the entire world.
But this semester, I struggled to put words to paper. You can see for yourself that I took a break from my blog. I wondered why it was so difficult for me do excel in one of my favorite hobbies. Class papers took me weeks to finish, when before it was a breeze to at least get several drafts done before the deadline.
Somehow, I happened upon a Ted Talk. Dr. Cal Newport told me that social media was affecting me negatively. I wanted to laugh at the irony of a man preaching an anti-social media message via the social media of YouTube, but only realized that he was attempting to reach out to those who had already fallen prey to social media.
He discussed the damage social media does to one's attention span. When we constantly look at our phones every spare moment we have, can we really stand to sit in silence and focus on something? With the constant buzzing of our phones, are we disciplined? I started to see what my problem was: social media. I grit my teeth as I listened to him, wondering if my grades would be different had I not been all over social media.
I started to observe my social media usage more. Rarely, if ever, did I feel happier after using social media than I did before using. Maybe I'd feel happier when I posted something of my own, but especially those times that I did not post but just "lurked," I felt worse. I saw people going on vacations while I worked twenty hours a week with a nineteen credit schedule. I saw all the parties I did not get invited to. I began to realize that my opinion of others would likely be higher without seeing their posts on social media. I typically thought less of people after seeing their posts, either out of jealousy or some other gross feeling. I did not want to think less of somebody just because they did not post pictures of my wedding. That was not an issue when my mom was my age, and I do not want to live a lifetime carrying around an issue like that.
Then, my church started blocking some social media apps. It was "[m]eant to be a way to further the purposes of the Church, enhance worship experiences and support administrative functions." This told me that social media otherwise disturbs these ends. In a way, it was a sign to me, and possibly nobody else, that these apps are clearly having a more negative than positive influence.
Right around the time the news came out, May 1st, 2018, I deleted all the apps from my phone. The universe's way of reassuring me that I had made the right decision was the debut of the song "This is America" by Childish Gambino. There are many interpretations to the song, but for me, it demonstrated how distracting social media is. Children dance in the forefront of the video while there is a lot of action going on in the background. It was easy for me to make the direct relation to news media; my involvement in social media could distract me from reporting on real issues going on around me. Some would say this did indeed happen to the media as a whole leading up to the 2016 Presidential Election. Journalists were all over then Presidential Nominee Trump's Twitter account, and lost sight of reporting on the policies of other candidates. Still, some journalism professors preach the importance of posting on social media several times a day. I will staunchly disagree.
So now I'm a "hermit" in a way. I hope I will still have friends even when I don't like what they post online. I'm sure I'm going to be okay.
My husband Rob is not very active on social media, and often argued with me about how it could be a bad influence. I fiercely disagreed, but in the back of my mind, I knew there were tons of inappropriate posts constantly at my fingertips. Some of the content was provocative or triggering, or even induced jealousy in me. However, I argued, public life can be provocative, triggering, and covetous. Just because I was not seeing an image on social media did not mean that I would not see the same image in public. Likely, the same images are on the street. If one cannot handle what one sees on social media and control their lust and jealousy, the same cannot control those emotions when they see the same thing on the street. It is better to use social media and learn to control those emotions, than to block them out. One cannot block out the entire world.
But this semester, I struggled to put words to paper. You can see for yourself that I took a break from my blog. I wondered why it was so difficult for me do excel in one of my favorite hobbies. Class papers took me weeks to finish, when before it was a breeze to at least get several drafts done before the deadline.
Somehow, I happened upon a Ted Talk. Dr. Cal Newport told me that social media was affecting me negatively. I wanted to laugh at the irony of a man preaching an anti-social media message via the social media of YouTube, but only realized that he was attempting to reach out to those who had already fallen prey to social media.
He discussed the damage social media does to one's attention span. When we constantly look at our phones every spare moment we have, can we really stand to sit in silence and focus on something? With the constant buzzing of our phones, are we disciplined? I started to see what my problem was: social media. I grit my teeth as I listened to him, wondering if my grades would be different had I not been all over social media.
I started to observe my social media usage more. Rarely, if ever, did I feel happier after using social media than I did before using. Maybe I'd feel happier when I posted something of my own, but especially those times that I did not post but just "lurked," I felt worse. I saw people going on vacations while I worked twenty hours a week with a nineteen credit schedule. I saw all the parties I did not get invited to. I began to realize that my opinion of others would likely be higher without seeing their posts on social media. I typically thought less of people after seeing their posts, either out of jealousy or some other gross feeling. I did not want to think less of somebody just because they did not post pictures of my wedding. That was not an issue when my mom was my age, and I do not want to live a lifetime carrying around an issue like that.
Then, my church started blocking some social media apps. It was "[m]eant to be a way to further the purposes of the Church, enhance worship experiences and support administrative functions." This told me that social media otherwise disturbs these ends. In a way, it was a sign to me, and possibly nobody else, that these apps are clearly having a more negative than positive influence.
Right around the time the news came out, May 1st, 2018, I deleted all the apps from my phone. The universe's way of reassuring me that I had made the right decision was the debut of the song "This is America" by Childish Gambino. There are many interpretations to the song, but for me, it demonstrated how distracting social media is. Children dance in the forefront of the video while there is a lot of action going on in the background. It was easy for me to make the direct relation to news media; my involvement in social media could distract me from reporting on real issues going on around me. Some would say this did indeed happen to the media as a whole leading up to the 2016 Presidential Election. Journalists were all over then Presidential Nominee Trump's Twitter account, and lost sight of reporting on the policies of other candidates. Still, some journalism professors preach the importance of posting on social media several times a day. I will staunchly disagree.
So now I'm a "hermit" in a way. I hope I will still have friends even when I don't like what they post online. I'm sure I'm going to be okay.
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