Social media is huge part of today’s society and ever since I was in eighth or ninth grade, I can remember being on some sort of social media. I started out with MySpace, then I moved up to Facebook, and eventually I had a Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. You name it, I’ve probably had it at some point in my life. Social media is such a common trend that when you ask people for their Facebook and they tell you that they do not have one, it is shocking and people think they are weird. When Lent began on Wednesday, Feb. 10 this year, I made the bold decision to delete all my social media apps from my phone and abstain from social media until Lent is over at Easter. Here are my reasons why!
1. Because it is distracting.
It’s no secret that social media is a distraction. For me, it’s a huge distraction. Because I have so many social media outlets, if I’m bored I’ll just check them all. It’s not a good habit to have and I do not like it. It also distracts me from life in general. I notice that I pay more attention to my social media accounts than I do to the people I’m hanging out with in person. Social media is a distraction from so many things and I needed that to end.
2. Because of unnecessary scrolling.
Have you ever found yourself “checking Facebook for two minutes” and ending up being on Facebook for almost an hour? Because I have! I can endlessly scroll on Facebook or Twitter and let time slip away from me. This goes back to social media being distracting. This unnecessary scrolling does not benefit me at all. I do not care if Suzy had a sandwich for lunch or if Bob couldn’t start his lawn mower again! This type of scrolling is not productive at all and it hurts my brain cells just thinking about it.
3. Because there is way too much drama involved.
I don’t know if you know this, but there is so much drama online. You have one girl posting on Facebook like it’s her diary, but then she gets mad when people comment about it. Or you have a girl who posts a vague status but says, “I don’t want to talk about it.” Now, I’m not telling anyone how they should use social media at all, because we’ve all been there. We’ve all made passive-aggressive posts on Facebook or tweets on Twitter. I’m definitely guilty of that, but that doesn’t mean I want to see it all the time. I have almost 800 friends on Facebook and I can’t tell you the last time I have not seen drama on social media. It’s exhausting trying to keep up with it all and I don’t want to keep up with it either, so the simple solution is to not look at it.
4. Because it is overwhelming.
Having to keep up with everything that happens on social media is almost like a full-time job. It gets to be so overwhelming and quite frankly it is annoying. I hate having to feel like I need to keep up with every little thing that is happening in everyone’s lives. I’d rather sit down and talk to you in person about it over reading about it on social media.
5. Because of the fear of missing out.
The fear of missing something is real. We probably all experience it. You see your friends post a selfie together on a Friday night and you weren’t invited. It’s an outrage. How dare they not invite you? Imagine all the good times you missed out on, all the inside jokes you missed. Actually, stop imagining it, get off social media and go make some of your own memories!
6. Because I need to stop “creeping”
Have you ever just found yourself on a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend’s Facebook page? Because that is the story of my life. I see a post from a friend, click on it, see another post from one of their friends, click on it, and somehow I’m creeping on my ex-boyfriend’s Aunt’s friend’s dog, who ironically has a Facebook. The creeping is also just unnecessary and needs to stop as well.
7. Because I need to spend time more wisely.
Like any person, I really enjoy relaxing, but I can’t relax because I procrastinate too much. Why do I procrastinate so much? Because I am on my phone too much, looking at Twitter, looking at Instagram, just looking at every social media possible. It’s redundant and ridiculous. I need to refocus my time and energy into the real world and not the virtual world that I’ve created from my social media accounts.
8. Because I need to focus on school work.
If you’re a student, you know the struggle. Study for five minutes, take an hour long break and end up scrolling through Twitter for two more hours. It’s a struggle, and as a senior in college, it is one less struggle that I need to have. College is stressful as it is, why bog myself down with the extra added pressure of social media when I have assignments on assignments due?
9. Because I need to focus on myself.
I need time to get myself to where I want to be. I’ve lost myself in social media and I’m sick of it. I don’t want to be that person who needs to check Facebook every five minutes to see if someone wrote on my wall. I don’t want to tweet about stupid things every 10 minutes. I don’t want to be attached to my phone when I’m hanging out with friends because that’s just rude and disrespectful. I want to better myself and if I’m stuck on social media, then I can’t really do that. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve noticed my friends on Snapchat or Facebook or Twitter when I’m trying to talk to them. They don’t pay attention to a word I’ve said and I do not want to be like that. I want to be intentional with my conversations with people, so by giving up social media, I can actually be social. Wow, what a foreign concept.
10. Because I need to focus on God.
Most importantly, Lent is a time that we give up something so that we can focus more on God. With all this extra time that I have not being on social media, I can squeeze in more worship time. I want to pray more, I want to read my Bible more, and I want reconnect with God. I don’t want to add Him on Facebook. I don’t want to follow Him on Twitter. I don’t even want to post pictures on Instagram about my “quiet time with God.” I just want genuine one-on-one time with God. By giving up social media, I plan to do just that. I am excited to see what I learn through this process. I’m excited for what God has in store for me. And I am just excited to break the addiction of social media in my life.
