Thursday Thoughts: Social Media


It seems like people really enjoy sharing their lives online for the world to see. With social media, it is so easy to post a picture or video of yourself that could potentially reach millions of people.

In many respects, I am astonished by the wonders of the Internet and the way that you are able to connect with people across the world that you may not otherwise have been able to interact with. Also, social media is great at connecting people and keeping in touch with people that you may not see that often.

Since I graduated high school there are many people that I keep in touch with through social media since I don't get to see them every day. It's great getting to log into an app and see what everyone's up to but there are definitely faults in social media. Personally, I think that social media has evolved into a superficial practice. These days it seems like everyone is trying to show off their lavish life or all the exciting things they do every week.

I usually internalize other people's posts and pictures and compare myself to them and feel down that I'm not as adventurous or luxurious. Then I remind myself that everything isn't as it seems. Even with some of the things that I post on social media are a spin on the truth or posed.

Something I've noticed with myself is that I usually don't feel authentic when I post things on social media. I usually will post things that I know will get me likes and I will spend a while editing or styling photos for the small sense of gratification I feel when I receive likes from my followers.

So with the start of 2018, I decided to do a social media cleanse to try and recharge and focus on myself. On January 1st of this year, I deleted all social media apps from my phone and didn't post anything for the first week of January. With my cleanse I wasn't too strict with myself but I did have some ground rules.

No Social Media apps on my phone

 My phone is always on me and my most used device. I thought that since I always have my phone on me I should restrict my access to social media on this device. The first week was really interesting, I noticed that I kept looking at my phone expecting to get notifications. I also hung out with some friends that week and I felt myself reach for my phone with the intention of posting on Snapchat.

The first week of the cleanse I learned about how much time I actually spend on social media and how much interaction with the people around me I'm missing. I noticed when I was eating dinner with a friend I kept picking up my phone wanting to scroll through social media but since I deleted the apps it forced me to give my undivided attention to the person I was with. And because of this, I feel like I had a genuine interaction that allowed me to actively listen and connect with the person I was with.

Allowed to access from desktop/laptop

 I allowed myself the option of accessing social media from my laptop. Although it isn't necessarily a cleanse because I am still accessing these sites, I don't use my laptop as often as I use my phone. When I do use it its primary function is work-related but when I am able I take a quick peek at some different platforms. I also have a few other reasons...

1. I love writing these blog posts and I also like people reading them. The best way to get my posts out there are on my Facebook page and Twitter

2. I want to stay connected with people from college. I am currently taking a semester off from school and I wanted to stay connected with my friends

No posting on Social Media

 Although I allowed myself to access social media sites from my laptop I didn't want to allow myself to post anything. Like I mentioned before I felt like I was posting for the benefit of other people and not necessarily what I wanted to post. With this cleanse I want to make sure that I am solidified in what I want to do, and posting while I am trying to do that will be counterproductive because I fall into the same trap of seeking validation from likes and comments.

Obviously, this isn't a goodbye forever from social media but just by deleting the apps off of my phone has made such a huge difference in how I spend my time. Hope you all enjoyed :)

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