I quit social media for a week and here is what happened!

Written by Valérie Goulet

Have you ever tried quitting social media for a couple of days? I mean for real!!

Last week, I decided I was going to fully disconnect from Facebook and here is what happened.

IS FACEBOOK REALLY NECESSARY?

At first, I wrote a status to let my friends know that I would be leaving social media for a week. For a moment, I thought it was ridiculous of me to write a status about my departure, but as most of my communications with my friends and my family is through Facebook, I didn’t want anyone to be worried if didn’t get back to them quickly!

That day at noon, I began my social media detox. My day went by and I realized when opening my emails at night, that I had 9 new messages waiting for me on Facebook. I’ve never had that update at once on Facebook before! I couldn’t resist not reading them and login to Facebook. The first message I read was a friend asking me if I was ok and telling me how special I was to be doing a social media detox! Haha!

Why am I being judged for quitting social media for a week?

Insert here the rolling eyes emoji x 100!

Most of the other emails I received were saying: “Oh well! Tell us when you’re back!”. I also received messages about items I was selling in the Marketplace. I quickly came to the conclusion that if I wanted to sell those items I would have to stay online.

Fail.

I don’t like rethinking decisions, I’ve made. If I took this decision, I obviously had a good reason to do so. After all, I’ve decided to stay connected for the next 2 days, until I make the arrangement with people to pick up my items. Making sure to only interact when needed and without overdoing it.

WHY I HAVE DECIDED TO QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA FOR A WEEK

One of the reasons why I’ve decided to disconnect myself from Facebook is mainly because I find my Facebook feed boring these days. I feel like there are a lot of negative thoughts in my feed, which overshadows the good stuff.

I’ve always liked being in contact with people on Facebook, which is the main reason why I’ve decided to join in 2009.

When it first started, all my friends were more than happy to be sharing photos of their trips, of the new restaurants they’ve been to, of their new haircut, or even their food… As much as I loved seeing what my friends were up to, I was also sharing parts of my life with them.

Now, if we share too much information about our life, I feel like we get categorized as a narcissist.

I never thought I would say this one day, but because the platforms are becoming less and less friendly, I don’t feel like spending time on them.

I much rather have a real connection, with a physical person! 😉

How about you?

AND NOW THERE IS INSTAGRAM

I don’t see me quitting social media for a week as a failure, even though I had to interfere with the platform a few times during that week. This quick social media detox allowed me to reflect on myself and about the whole thing.

I’ve also decided to concentrate most of my social media time on Instagram. I find it way more inspiring than Facebook.

I know that most images showed on Instagram are too perfect. Know that if you follow accounts that you find inspiring, with great persons it can also show you another facet of Instagram. It’s up to you to decide who to follow and the impact they will have on your life… or not.

Enjoy your time online!