I never thought I was someone who had any type of addiction. I am just a typical university girl. I am quite proud of this fact, since nowadays itâs pretty rare not to face an addiction of any sorts. However, for the past few months, I have noticed a huge change in my behaviour. When I am in front of a computer, I always have to go on one particular site: Facebook.
When I have my phone in hand, I am constantly searching for Wi-Fi, otherwise some of my applications wonât work. I always have this need to go on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or Snapchat. I doubt that I am the only one living with this situation. I donât think anyone would contradict me on this observation. I see that most of the students that have a laptop in class will sooner or later take a look at their Facebook account or one of the many other social media sites. On the bus, you canât even count on both hands how people are on Facebook on their cell phone.
There are 200 million Facebook users on mobile only, meaning that âa fifth of Facebookâs user-base doesnât own a PCâ. Some people will say that social media is a trend. However, this âtrendâ has attracted nearly 5 million Facebook users who arenât even ten years old yet. Others will declare that these networks are like a worldwide epidemic, but I prefer to call it an addiction. You are social media addict and I am one too⊠or at least I was. Yes, I said I was a social media addict. I noticed I had a problem and I had to fix it before it turned even more out of control.
The Process
I started the process before even knowing that I was going to write about my experience. By the end of November, I wanted to go through this âcleanseâ. So, for more than a month I started preparing myself. I was going to go to ârehab,â meaning I was going to give up social media. I was going to get it out of my system. Facebook was my kryptonite. My goal was to do three days without using any of these social media sites. Turned out it was a lot harder than I ever imagined. You must be thinking, âthatâs so easyâ. This girl isnât for real. Well, I had the same thought, but itâs way harder than you actually think. How was I supposed to get rid of a behaviour that was my kryptonite? I couldnât just stop immediately since I would have gotten cravings to return to my old habits.
Ironically enough, I barely used my facebook account when I created it in 2009. I could spend months without logging in. I even had to change my password each time I logged in because I couldnât remember it. Back then it was the good life. Indeed, the social media network wasnât that big so it was easy to pass it up. Now, a new social media outlet pops up faster than a pimple. Anyway, I decided to do the âcleanseâ during the holidays, which was the worst idea ever. What was I going to do with all my free time? For the first couple of days, I kept having those ârelapsesâ. I couldnât spend a day without going on the forbidden site even if my life depended on it. I had to restart the process every day and it was frustrating. After a week of this nonsense, I finally had enough and stopped. I didnât go on Facebook for 10 days and I was so proud. Of course, it was hard, but it was worth it.Â
The Outcome
When I returned to Facebook after 10 days of inactive service, I had 5 messages, and 34 notifications waiting for me. I am a different user now. It sounds so silly, but I donât feel like itâs controlling my life anymore, and that I have control over it. I donât go on because I have to check how many âlikesâ or âsharesâ one of my posts gets. I donât go on because I want to avoid doing schoolwork. I go on because I want to. Itâs a big difference because before I felt like I was missing something important. I felt that my day couldnât be complete without it. I would obsess about it. Thatâs a sad way to act and feel. Now, I can spend a day without using it or thinking about it.
I also removed some of the applications on my Smartphone. I donât need to have them with me at all times. Itâs a waste of space on my phone. I also donât have the urge to post on social media so many times a day. I hate when people post everything about their private life on facebook. Then, I notice that I am a hypocrite since I used to do the same thing. A while back, I started deleting some of my Facebook friends because I though it was ridiculous to have so many, when in theory I donât even speak to half of them on a daily basis. Some of my friends have thousands of âfriendsâ on Facebook.
I love to argue with them saying that there the majority of them are just acquaintances and not friends and that there is a huge difference. There was a time when I added anybody and everybody because I wanted to have so many âFacebook friendsâ. I though I was going to be âcoolerâ or make me feel special. Now, I donât even care since I understand the expression âitâs the quality and not the quantityâ. I also understood the most important thing of all: social media isnât an important thing in my life, because even without my presence on it, life will still keep on rolling.Â
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