What I Learned: A month without being internet social

A little over a month ago, I made the decision to log off my social media accounts for December. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't know it would be easy. After a few days, I quit trying to open the invisible apps on my phone and found new realizations. Here are the things I learned about not being on social media:

I don't care.
No offense, but half the stuff on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, I don't care about. With the social media, it was convenient to get to know someone without really asking, but without social media it was almost convenient to not have to care. I didn't have to worry about 'liking' something to let the person know that I still cared about him or her, even though I didn't exactly care about the thing he or she posted.

I do care.
There was the other half of the stuff that I did care about. Updates on family members, exciting things happening to friends, pictures that were taken at Christmas. The first half of the month, I was at college, so I didn't get updated on what was going on at home. The second half of the month, I was at home, so I didn't get updated on what was going on with my friends at college. I missed the long-distance updates without having to ask.



I wasted time.
I would procrastinate studying or chores because I was on social media. Without it, I didn't have anything "better" to do but be somewhat productive.

I cared too much what people thought.
I would craft each post knowing who would 'like' it before I even posted it. But if I was just being myself and I didn't get "enough" 'likes', I felt that people didn't like who I was.



I don't have to try to be creative.
I'm not really a hands-on creative person. Occasionally, I enjoy being crafty, but only about once every 3 or 4 months. I would rather spend my time being "productive" with things I use. But seeing the "Look what I made!" posts on social media made me feel like I needed to make things, too. Thankfully, I don't.

I used social media as a substitute.
When I first began my social media hiatus, I would find things that I could do differently with my new free time. This included reading the Bible. Eventually, I realized that I used Facebook as my substitute when I didn't want to read the Bible.


I don't have to act surprised when people tell me things.
When people would tell me things that was going on in their lives, I didn't want to be rude and tell them that I already knew because they posted it on Facebook. Now, when people tell me things, I can genuinely be surprised.

There are more productive ways to be unproductive.
I can read a book. I can write in a journal. I can research random facts. Elephants only sleep two hours a day.

There is much, much, much more to life than finding the perfect Facebook/Instagram/Twitter update.
This includes sleeping more hours a day than an elephant. 



Not long after I gave up social media, I got an email basically saying that almost everyone tries to fill a void in their life by trying to be perfect in some sort of way. Unknowingly, in a way, mine was social media. The email later said that the only way that void can be filled is through Christ.

He does not care how many 'likes', 'followers', 'favorites,' or 'retweets' we get. No matter how perfect we seem on social media, we'll never be perfect. Instead of posting our sorrows on social media, it's much easier to talk to God about them. He is the only one who can truly make our heart happy.

With that, I don't have much of a desire to be on social media anymore. I definitely won't be downloading the apps on my phone, and I will probably only log on if I am extremely bored.