I loved Instagram, so to be honest I never planned on this happening. As the school year was rapidly approaching I began to realize that my compulsive Instagram scrolling had become more of a burden than a fun way to keep up to date with my friends. I started to get sucked down a stream of never ending pictures of models with tiny waistlines and perfect tans or even things as seemingly simple as everyone going back to school and having fun with their college friends. What was subconsciously, and even sometimes consciously, happening was I became a person who compared. I started questioning my personal identity and comparing my life choices to others’ based on something as silly as a photo upload. That’s when I realized something had to be done. I wanted enjoy my own life and in order to do that I had to stop bombarding myself with information on how everyone else was living theirs. Here I am, 30 days later, reporting that I am still alive and in fact experienced a beneficial transformation.
I became self-aware.
When I first deleted the app it was almost like I was venturing into the unknown. For a majority of my teenage years I have spent so much time scrolling through pictures and videos searching for the right way to be happy in accordance to society’s standards. Dress like this. Act like this. It was all over now; free to make my own decisions, I actually had to take time to focus on what I like and don’t like. I tried new gym classes, went on new adventures with my friends and just did trial and error experiments with different things to try and find things I actually enjoyed. I found myself spending more time on me and less time on my online persona.
My worth doesn’t depend on the number of likes I get.
This one kind of goes back to me becoming self-aware. Once I realized what I enjoy doing and who I enjoy spending my time with, it didn’t matter if I got validation from anyone else. I don’t need a minimum of 100 likes from semi-friendly followers to decide if I had fun or enjoyed myself. I stopped seeking affirmation from a social media platform and just started living my life for me.
My real friends are still my friends.
Just because I stopped using one form of social media does not mean I have any intentions of being less social. In fact, not having an Instagram actually has made me reach out to my friends more in other ways such as with a phone call or a text message. To the people that matter most to me in my life, and those that I matter to, in a world of constant communication, both parties put in the time and effort to make sure we’re kept updated on the important aspects of each others lives. The only difference between my life with Instagram and my life without is that I don’t find my daily life being clogged with information about people who are not currently in my life.
I got more work done.
This probably isn’t shocking to many people but I gained a few hours a day that instead of scrolling I actually used to be productive. Not only did I become more productive when I was awake, I was actually able to catch up on my sleep. I used to sit up every night scrolling through an unlimited feed of information but since there is no more Instagram on my phone, there is no more desire to stay up longer than expected.
I learned to be present.
Life doesn’t stop for anyone and to be honest when I had my head in my phone for hours a day, I was missing it. Over the past month, when I was with anyone I was 100% there. I wasn’t staring at my phone or obsessing over the latest gossip because to be honest, I didn’t know what was going on and clearly it wasn’t affecting my life. I began to realize how much time our society spends staring at a phone and how it’s altering our relationships. I was missing out on what was right in front of me; real life experiences.
It’s okay to be on social media in moderation, but the next time you go to pick your phone up or refresh your feed 10 minutes after you last checked it, think twice and look around you. Don’t become so obsessed with then and there that you forget to appreciate here and now.