I Took a Three-Week Break from Social Media and Here’s What Happened

In early October, I decided to join many of the women from my church in a 10-day break from social media. And after that ten days was up, I realized that I love being disconnected. I stopped watching the news years ago because it was depressing, so I have no idea why it took me so long to realize that social media was bringing the same darkness into my life. I know it’s important to be informed, but neither Twitter nor Facebook should be my go-to sources for information. I didn’t join those platforms for information, but as social media has evolved it’s become a lot more about pseudo-news and a lot less about being social. Being social is good. I love people. I love interacting with people. I want to continue interacting with people on social media. And the one thing I really missed these last three weeks was the PEOPLE. Okay, okay. If we’re being totally honest, I also missed the dogs. Instagram is great for dogs. And food. And books. Please send me all the pictures of your dogs, food, and books. Thanks ever so much. There are a few other lessons I learned during my vacation:

  • Social media doesn’t affect the number of words I write in a day. Shocking, I know. I filled that time with other things…like reorganizing. You should see all the closets in my house. They are gorgeous.
  • I read 18.5 books in the last three weeks. Let’s agree that is a ridiculous amount of reading, and at least a portion of that time would have been devoted to social media. Reading makes me happy. I need to keep doing that.
  • I missed Instagram more than any of the other platforms. I think that’s partially because it’s less devoted to “news” and more devoted to images. I very rarely stop and read someone’s entire post.
  • Taking a break from social media did not affect my self-esteem. I think I’m an outlier on that one.

Moving forward, I want to spend more time focusing on people, on building friendships, on sharing the highlights (and sometimes lowlights) of our lives. Here’s to the people.         And to the dogs.  

One Comment

  • Kristan

    Yes! This is how I typically feel when I get a break from social media. (Usually due to travel, as opposed to self control, lol.) Glad you feel refreshed, but glad you’re back too!

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