This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter.
If you’re looking to get the low down on Lo Brown, you’re going to have to forget Facebook and opt for some face-to-face. Having recently deleted social media platforms off of her phone, she removed the constant temptation and mindless brain drain we all struggle with from her life. Lauren Brown, current University of Texas Pre Med and MIS junior, discusses how liberating deleting social media from her life has been, and the hopes she has for bettering herself through living life day-to-day rather than screen-to-screen.
Her Campus Texas: What is the biggest obstacle you find that social media imposes upon face-to-face interaction?
Lauren Brown: The most prevalent thing I can think of is the added awkwardness when you see an acquaintance and could probably tell them more about what they did over the holidays than they probably know themselves. Nothing like passing them on the street and unintentionally blurting, “How was __(foreign destination)__? It looked like you and _(7 of their closest friends)_ had so much fun!” Word vomit with the additional stalking confession always leaves you walking away with a knot in the stomach.
HCTX: What’s your biggest pet peeve you have in regards to your friendships?
LB: Often times, people count social media as a way that they have interacted with their friends; therefore, they maintain a shallow connection with a fraction of the effort needed to sustain a relationship. I found that I was maintaining these surface level “friendships” without really knowing what was truly going on in peoples’ lives.
HCTX: Why did you decide to delete your social media?
LB: There are so many factors and it’s something I go back and forth with. I have gone off Instagram for months at a time, or deactivated my Facebook at another intervals, only to find myself back time and again. But this go around I deleted both apps at the same time and am planning on doing some research to have the accounts permanently deleted if possible (so as to prevent impulsive temptation). I did a little introspective research and decided that the network I had created was too far spread without enough depth. I stopped really caring about a majority of posts I saw and I realized most people couldn’t give a rip about what I posted. Final conclusion: No one probably looks at the pictures on your profile more than you do. Unless they have a crush on you and then that’s considered creeping.
HCTX: Do you ever feel like you’re missing out not having Facebook or Instagram to keep you “in the loop”?
LB: It is difficult to keep up with some things because several organizations I am in use Facebook as the main use of communicating upcoming events or other important things. However, I think I realized beforehand that if I wasn’t good enough friends with the person to have known what they were up to, that it doesn’t make much difference if I’m in the know or not.
HCTX: Do you feel as though our expectations for our own life or perhaps even our definition for happiness and success is built through other’s updates and the way social media presents their lives?
LB: Yes, yes, yes!! I began to notice that my happiness and feelings of inclusion/exclusion were all becoming relative to what was popping up on my news feed. This is what truly pushed me to the point of cutting all ties to the lies that I wasn’t living large. I would consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world in terms of the things I have been able to do and the people I have been lucky to encounter. I got tired of telling myself differently when some instafamous clown was getting a million likes compared to my measly double digits.
HCTX: Would you say that social media generally presents a facade of a person?
LB: Yes and no. Sometimes I would think to myself that a person was overrated but, honestly, at other times I have seen posts by people I love and admire that made me cringe because of their word or picture choice. I guess that’s a reflection of myself- I was becoming a hyper-judmental biotch and I didn’t appreciate the way simple posts could make me react so strongly.
HCTX: What do you hope to gain from this hiatus?
LB: I think it’s more of what I hope to lose. I want to lose the ability to be constantly distracted; the feeling that I can know and judge a person based on what they post; and the limitation on my joy of life based on what I see other people doing.
HCTX: How long do you think you will stay off of social media?
LB: I hope indefinitely but I haven’t gotten that far. Some job later might require I get back online; however, I hope I can find a means to eliminate it permanently.
HCTX: In your opinion, what areas of your life does social media hinder?
LB: It drove me crazy how much time I wasted while trying to study. My class schedule is fairly difficult and my procrastination is directly related to pressure. I can not tell you how many times I would be studying in the library, reach a tricky answer, and immediately pick up my phone and start scrolling through my instagram feed I had checked only 20 minutes prior. It got so bad I would do it subconsciously and then catch myself somehow on Brody Jenner’s bestfriend’s dog’s personal account. And if you’re wondering where Brody Jenner is now, he’s a dj at a club in Vegas.
HCTX: Does it improve other areas?
LB: Yes, of course. I am not arrogant enough to say that social media has no use. It is incredible that my parents (and even grandparents) have been able to reconnect so well with their dear friends from their past. I am just not that far from a stage in life where I have a valid excuse to have lost touch with friends if they were that important to me.
HCTX: Do you believe it possible to manage your time and friendships with social media?
LB: I don’t know about time… I’d be embarrassed to know the total amount of hours I’ve used among all the different platforms but I remember hearing a statistic of a frightening amount of daily use by Facebook users. Friendships, of course! The whole purpose of the platforms are for relationships. It’s just hard to find a limit for my actual network and those I politely accept.
How do you think this hiatus will effect your day to day life even when or I guess if you begin to use social media again?
I’ll probably get a lot of grief if/when I come back online. But who cares. I saw a funny quote that said, “no one really notices if you to the party or if you have a Facebook” so I guess this will be a fun experiment to see if it’s really true.