Like any 18 year-old girl, I love my social media and my cell phone. I am always on Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram. Interesting enough, I wondered out loud what it would be like to go on a social media cleanse… right next to my CC. Before I knew it, I agreed to try three days and not go on social media. I knew it was going to be hard, because half my life is lived online. I took on the task headstrong, but I never imagined what happened at the end of my three day cleanse.
Day 1:
The first day was definitely the hardest. Since I couldn’t use any of my social media, I barely used my cellphone. Being off my phone made me so much more aware. It made me realize how much everyone around me is always on their phones. Not going to lie the first day was really hard, and it may sound dramatic, but it was hard stopping cold turkey. It was difficult because when I feel awkward or I don’t want to interact with other people, I just go to Snapchat or scroll through Twitter. Without that safety blanket, I was almost too present and I didn’t know how to deal with that.
Day 2:
On day two, it eventually got better. I sometimes still wanted to just open Snapchat and post stories — the fact that I often think about that is kind of ridiculous, amiright? Today, I definitely felt more inclined to interact with people. Not being on my phone made it easier to have actual conversations during lunch, hanging out in my dorm, and walking to class with others. The conversations were better, too. They were not along the lines of, “oh, did you see this person’s snapchat?” or “have you seen this instagram?” and whatnot. The conversations were rather genuine and thoughtful. It was getting so much easier to be without social media, so I really didn’t mind being more present with others.
Day 3:
On the last day, I really was not phased with my lack of social media. I knew it was my last day, so I was really excited to get my Snapchat back. However, even on my last day of my cleanse, it was not hard going through the day at all. As you can notice in my last two days, I was starting to get the hang of things. It was really easy and I enjoyed not having to deal with my phone for a little while.
Over these three short days, I have learned a few things. First off, I have realized that all of social media is fake. Don’t get me wrong, I love it as much as the next girl, but social media is just contrived. Almost everything that is posted on social media is to try and impress others. It tries to prove something that you’re not. Most people want to be the next “it” Instagram or Twitter famous girl — the person who gets five billion likes, that every girl wants to be and every guy wants to date. But what’s the point? I love my cellphone, but I really loved the interaction I had with people more than what a small digital screen gave me.
I also realized that we need to live in the moment more. Think about concerts and how so many people are just on their cellphones trying to capture the moment. But on a smaller scale, walking from class to class glued to a phone screen rather than enjoying the people and community around you. I get that because I’ve been there, but remember from time to time to be in the moment. Be present. So if you’re getting a little sick and tired of social media, or maybe need a little reality check, I would consider doing a social media cleanse and disconnect from digital world, so you can love the real world a little more.