12 MONTHS WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA, AND HOW IT HELPED.
So why did I try to do this? Because at the time I had a feeling that it was most likely a bad influence, but I have found people, myself included tend to have a fascination with being involved in things that aren't quite positive influences.
How did this idea start?
This personal experiment started after watching “The Social Dilemma”. A Netflix documentary where the ‘higher ups’ directly involved with the big social media platforms sound the siren about what is really going on with these platforms.
The big takeaway for me was being told that we are not the consumers of these social media platforms but in fact the product.
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and all the rest, are selling to advertisers. They are selling us — perhaps more specifically our time and attention.
People who are far more intelligent than I, have created this algorithm that constantly changes and adapts to keep the user engaged.
Did you stop scrolling for a split second to look at a cooking video or a yoga flow? The Algorithm knows, and it will adjust your feed. To fine-tune it into something that constantly keeps you engaged for increasing amounts of time.
It's like the advertiser's messiah — a constantly evolving piece of code designed to keep us on peoples platforms for longer.
You may ask — “what's wrong with me watching something that I am interested in?”
Nothing at all, but I don't particularly like having advertisements pop up before every video or 2/3 posts. Trying to get me to buy something that is utterly useless and fall deeper into the materialism blackhole.
This algorithm will also throw increasingly engaging and typically more controversial content towards us, to keep people on the platform for longer at the cost of having our views and beliefs heavily influenced or changed due to unregulated information found on the internet.
My Personal Experience, benefits and cons.
Comparision
I have definitely spent less time comparing myself to others during this year-long period.
I haven't had access to a platform to be updated by peoples lives and their milestones, or their wins, Instagram was in my experience a place where everyone shares just how amazing everything is.
It gives people the ability to engineer what the public eye sees, to create the perfect window for people to look through and observe. It's not a real window, but the one the person chooses to show.
There's nothing specifically wrong with that either, it's great that people share the wins in life.
However, I was in a place previously where I would find myself viewing other peoples wins as failures of my own.
Asking myself questions that left me worse off.
Relationships
For the first few months, I felt disconnected from people, it was actually the hardest period of the 12 months.
I didn't know where my friends were eating, heading to and how they spent their free time.
I pushed on, and a short while later, I realised that it didn't really matter, if I was to catch up with a friend and they had an experience that they truly enjoyed or benefited from, they would tell me.
With real conversation, and perhaps a photo to show a visual aspect.
Mindfulness
Without an easily accessible dopamine source from the doom scrolling, I found myself to be more mindful, and present in my life.
Waiting for a friend to show up, to be served at a restaurant, or a moment of silence in conversation. I would try to enjoy that time away from my phone, away from social media.
before this challenge, the automatic reaction for me was “well this is boring and not very stimulating let me pull out my phone and look at something.”
I realise now I was essentially thinking let time just pass me by until the moment I am waiting for presents itself.
So many moments I could have enjoyed by just being present or aware, I wasted them by taking my attention elsewhere.
Why? well, it must be better than just sitting or standing here idly. I have to be doing something!
Giving myself this false sense of accomplishment of trying to do something ‘productive’ on my phone.
I am not perfect, I still find myself checking my phone for emails or messages. I am, however, more aware than I was before. That for me is an important thing.
Perhaps other people are better at managing their exposure to social media than I am, and that's okay. This was just my experience and I am curious to hear about yours.
— David Yaqub
