I’m sure we’ve all encountered the discussion of how social media, or more broadly, technology, is our means to an end.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve listened to an adult lecture me on how “us kids” spend too much time on it. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Tumblr, or any other outlets that you may use, is it all too much?
The topic of social media has been on my mind lately, as I am currently on the home stretch of my choice of giving up Twitter and Instagram for Lent. Yeah, you’ve heard me right- I haven’t been on Twitter since February 14 (Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent) . . . and, well, as for Instagram, I admittedly cheated on my fast twice to post in honor of two important occasions; when I gained two incredible littles and when I turned 21. Everyone has to Instagram that stuff. I mean, come on…
Anyway, as Easter Sunday nears, I’m having mixed feelings about returning to these two outlets. My 40-day fast from Twitter and Instagram caused me to realize that we can be okay without the sometimes-overwhelming presence of social media in our lives.
Leading up to my decision to give up Twitter and Instagram for a bit, I often found myself switching obsessively from app to app in my spare time. This can be a good, stress-relieving way to spend a study break, but not when that “break” turns into an hour-long plunge among your sister’s friend’s older brother’s friend’s profile, or deep in the confines of Pinterest. Sometimes I found myself scrolling mindlessly through my various social media outlets, and it eventually became too time-consuming to switch between them all. It was even more tedious of a process because I log out of everything after using it because I like to be surprised by the notifications waiting for me when I go to log back in, so it always takes an extra few seconds to log the heck out of Facebook and the 52 other apps I use.
Not to mention, social media harbors a large tendency of comparing ourselves to other people, whether it be those at our college or in our hometown that can randomly pop up on Instagram’s Explore page. On Facebook, the comparison stems from people posting their accomplishments or random acts of kindness they’ve done that day.
All in all, comparison to others is a tendency that prevails through social media outlets.
On Twitter, Snapchat, or whatnot, we can control which aspects of our lives that others see, which often display our more amiable qualities.
Aligning our lives as we know them alongside these idealized versions of other people can cause us to think that we aren’t doing enough to be more, aren’t enough as we are, or are altogether failing at life. By approaching social media from this stance, it’s pretty mentally exhausting.
However, social media isn’t all horrible. It allows us to share cute pics, stay in touch with family and friends that may be far away, and also provides us with a great deal of entertainment.
But if you find yourself becoming hyper-fixated on it like I did, it’s okay to abstain from a few outlets, or from social media as a whole.
A lot of my friends thought my somewhat social media fast was kind of weird, as many of them are sufficiently dependent on it, but in the end, you have to do what’s best for you, even if it means breaking all of your Snapchat streaks.
– Sydney McFadden