A few days ago I decided to delete the Instagram and Snapchat apps off of my phone. This year I realized how addicted to these forms of social media I am. I would wake up every morning and see the notifications from my Snapchat and Instagram fill up my screen and it was so normal. After deleting the apps the other day, it was the weirdest sensation to have no notifications on my lock screen.
The reason I decided to delete these apps was because I realized it was an addiction. I would spend countless hours on them daily and sometimes I wouldn’t even notice. I could be working on a paper and 10 minutes later I would be on the popular page of Instagram scrolling uncontrollably. Any time I lifted my phone I would respond to a snap and open my Instagram app almost instinctively, even if I had already seen all the posts in my feed. Before I would go to bed, I would just stay on my phone for hours and literally be looking at nothing. Another reason I decided to delete these apps is because I found myself looking at Snap Stories and Insta posts of friends from home and it would sometimes make me super homesick or nostalgic. Also, seeing everybody posting about these really great experiences at the beginning of college when I knew I was still struggling to adjust made me jealous and a little worried that I was doing something wrong. I know people only post what you want them to see and it’s sometimes fake, but it can still make you feel a certain kind of way.
I must admit a part of me really does miss these apps because they were how I communicated with a lot of my friends from back home. I had streaks with all my best friends and this would ensure that we kept in-touch. I didn’t delete my accounts, however, because I think that one day I will want to use them again, but I will be able to do so in moderation. For the next three weeks, however, I will not use them. This will help me focus on myself and what I’m doing rather than everybody else. It will also help me work on being present. A wise man once told me to “live in the moment” and that is what I plan on trying to do.