So, a year ago I decided to delete my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts after my wife pointed out how much time I spent on my phone. She was right. So, I decided to get rid of it all for at least a year and see if anything positive came out of it.
Here’s what I discovered:
Positive Takeaways
- I interacted more with my family pretty much immediately
- I ended up reading more books
- I began writing again (something I love doing, but had stopped because I was too distracted)
- I played my guitar more, wrote and recorded my songs, and posted them to my YouTube Channel
- I created a new cooking blog and posted photos of my wife’s cooking, mostly, as well as some of my breakfast and grilling pics
- I wasn’t subjected to the continuous negative vibes I’d experienced when I had a Facebook account; family drama, rants from friends and families, negative news, etc.
Less-Positive Takeaways
- I replaced Twitter with a couple news websites, so I could stay up to date with current affairs. On a positive note, I didn’t receive Twitter prompts/notifications to distract me all the time. I’d just check the news every once and while to see what was happening. So, less checking in and distractions, by far, but I was still checking in.
- I’ve lost track of what’s going on with a lot of family and friends; which, could be both negative and positive, depending
Conclusion
Giving up Facebook was probably the most healthy thing I did. I don’t regret it at all. Instagram was similar in many ways to FB because I felt obligated to follow people back and like their stuff, etc. Both seemed like a soap opera to me, which I’m very glad to be away from. I’ve probably missed Twitter the most, but don’t miss checking in with it all the time.
In the grand scheme of things, I feel each of the above was highly addicting and a waste of my time and attention. While my blogs and YouTube channel could also be considered social media, at least they require a certain amount of creativity; which, is something productive. Also, my followers are not family. Instead, they’re strangers who liked something I did or said and wanted to see more. That’s really cool, as opposed to receiving or not receiving a like from family or friends on FB or Instagram. The pressure is off and it’s all so much less superficial. I love that.
All in all, I’ve discovered my creativity again after years of feeling uninspired. All it took was giving up the digitally unproductive crap in my life (which was also married to unwanted drama and distraction).
So, now what? Well, I’m going to see what two years without Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feels like! Wish me luck! May you all have a happy, prosperous, creatively productive, and healthy 2020!
Fee-Fi-Photography 