The benefits of social media are obvious: connection and reconnection with people, whether you like them or not. It is cheaper than using your landline and you don't have to travel. If people don't tell you things, you will find it out, eventually.
I decided one day to not use Instagram for a week because I was curious how I would feel afterwards. At the same time, I left some Whattsapp groups because I didn't see the point of staying in them any longer. Maybe I was a little bit inspired by a German actress who's two years my senior and doesn't use Whattsapp, Facebook at all, but uses Instagram for PR matters. It was so refreshing to read that someone from my generation confessed that the interactions with people tend to be more superficial if you reconnect on social media.
I've been invited to so many groups online and although, it was nice to see each other virtually, the communication just didn't feel that strong as it used to be and after many weeks, we lost each other.
Social media changes our how we communicate. I would say fewer people are reaching out to each other in a genuine way and asking each other how they are. We are more interested in what the person does than how they're doing in life. Let's confess, social media turns us into creepy creatures when we find out about someone's recent life or live episode online.
'Hey Meghan, I found out that you're pregnant!'
'Hi, Lucy! How do you know?'
'You posted a picture of your belly on Instagram!'
'Oh really? I don't remember anymore. I must have posted it when I found out'.
My take on social media is that if someone really cares about you, they have the time to give you call or text you asking how you are. Don't use social media because it's a shortcut to other people's lives. I also suggest to rethink the meaning of social media. Does it really make us social or do we pretend to be social?
After one week, I tried to go without it a couple of days more. When I opened the app again, I felt I wasn't bombarded with posts, but it left me cold. I couldn't care less what most people posted despite the pretty pictures and the pool of content that people spend so much time and energy in. I was annoyed because it didn't fill me with love or joy when looking at the posts. Also by not using Instagram, my anxiety levels dropped as consuming all the informaton made me feel stressed.
The most important thing I've learned is that we can live in a world without social media if we commit to it. Although, I use it for my own channel, it made me reevaluate the use of it for my own purposes.
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