What quitting social media for over a year has done for me.

June 6th 2020 my Facebook account was marked for permanent deletion. I have often flirted with the idea of quitting social media and finally found the perfect moment. During Lent 2020 I gave up social media which involved Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I didn’t use it as much before but I decided to avoid spending any time during that period. After my 45 day social media fast I realized that I could definitely do without them so I quit the big 3 that Saturday. For the sake of openness I will state that I currently have and use Snapchat, Youtube and Whatsapp. I guard my Snapchat streaks with fierce routine and I get mad when someone misses their streak with me.

For the sake of brevity I am listing 3 pros and 3 cons that I found after a year of quitting the big 3. I do have to mention that quitting social media was the answer for me and it does not have to be the ONLY way if you think you need a reprieve from the constant virtual hum. I am going to start with the pros because why not…

1. More time.
   I have noticed that people often adopt the stance of being hunched over on their phones, constantly scrolling their feeds. CONSTANT SCROLLING is the name of the game. There is no quitting whatsoever, post after post, information after information which I’m not sure would end or would contribute towards a fulfilled life. Now when you quit using them you will find that there is a lot more time now available at your disposal. One can pick up a leisure activity to fill up that time or they could waste it with even more drudgery.
2. Intentional Relationships.
   I have to reach out to people close to me via call or text to check in on them and to see how they are doing. I’d have to admit that I have lost a lot of news on people who posted often but it was not it was not a relational affair so I think loosing them is not actually the social reality. The more I ended up reaching to the people who are close to me the more meaningful and deeply relational we became. A lot of wonderful things can happen when you can pick up your phone and call someone near and dear to them. (Here is a free tip: Write letters, people like it a lot).
3. You Pick Your Content.
   One of the selling point for social media is the curated content specifically tailored for you. The algorithm is designed to give you the best experience which means content that you like or content that you engage with, but this also means you have to invest your time, energy and emotion in it. This would be good until you notice how much that engagement in the virtual space is of a negative nature. When you quit you get to pick how you receive content that is through your friend group, work or happenstance. When you skip the newsfeed you end up having less tailored content which mean more choosing and more living.

Now, one would say there are more pros for quitting but I do have to say that the above 3 are the ones I felt were the greatest. If I find something that is more pressing I will add an appendix on this post. Now we shall go to the dreaded cons of leaving social media.

1. Missing out on social events.
   There is no getting around this, you are going to miss “A LOT”. If you have major FOMO this would be the one thing that could stop you from quitting social media. Gone are the days of sending emails/Evites for parties or events. Friends and organizations often use social media to post about events and parties. One of the reasons I could quit was because I was not worried about missing out and I had to be very intentional to read weekly news bulletin or weekly emails to pick out events that I want to attend, not only that I had to diligently add the events to my calendar so I can actually attend them. Having friends who are very social helps as they will let you know what parties are there on your social horizon.
2. The exclusive marketplace.
   Gone are the days when people posted on local message boards or craigslist. When you quit you realize later that you don’t have access to the marketplace that each platform has. With the virtual world being fueled by posts from people this world also plays host to the marketplace specifically for people wanting to sell or buy. Local business and major businesses also use social media to post about deals. I dislike marketing but I like deals which is ironic because technically the ethos for hating one should stem from the fact that we are over-consuming. Besides the above mini rant I think you will definitely miss out on the virtual marketplace so be prepared for that.
3. Delayed cultural trend.
   Culture has a trend and believe it or not the zeitgeist waits for none, it moves with time like waves on the beach. There is no getting around the fact that our culture has found its home in social media. This is where we fight our famous culture wars, cancel people and also post black squares for initiating change. When you quit social media you don’t get the latest pulse on culture. Be prepared to be the odd man out when people are talking about trending memes and fads.

It is easy to think of a scapegoat to pin many problems on it, by pointing to one ‘bad’ actor, an evil ‘one’ and placing blame could ease the burden of diving into the real complex causes for problem especially social ones. I for one made social media to be an evil thing but what we often forget is that it is but a tool, albeit a very powerful one. Made by us to stay connected but has turned into something that divides us. Does that mean social media is bad, I think not. Is a knife bad? Is a gun evil? A tool is neither good nor bad but can definitely be used for one and the other. It is I think a greater critique on human nature that algorithms point towards the result that negative reactions get more engagement than positive ones. If we are to take a deeper analysis on what social media has done to us as a race one has to simply look at a mirror and see why.