When I told my boyfriend and family that I was going to say good-bye to social media for a full day, they didn’t think I was serious. That’s how addicted I was to the constant scrolling, liking and posting on social media. From 10pm one night to 10pm the next, I deleted the Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram apps from my phone. And I realized just how much my day would change if I put my phone down a little more often.
When I woke up the following day after deleting my apps the night before, I turned off my alarm and immediately went to tap the area where the apps used to be. Oops. I had already forgotten. I found myself unlocking my phone only to find blank space on the screen at least five times before noon that day. For once, though, I was actually paying attention to where I was walking, and I could notice everyone else’s heads buried in their phones around campus.
I began to realize that people, including myself, just want to be connected. Today’s world has persuaded us to believe that we always need to know what’s going on in the world and going on in the personal lives of our followers when all we could do is look up and pay attention to the people around us instead. If we actually paid attention to others and had conversations with them, our relationships would be so much more valuable to us. We shouldn’t use our time to scroll through profiles and status posts of the hundreds of people we are “connected” to on social media; we should be reaching out to the people in our daily lives that are actually physically present to grab coffee or go out to eat. Only then will our relationships last longer and stay stronger, and we will truly understand the value of connecting with people.
As the day passed on, I started to notice how much more time and focus I had. I spent a couple hours in the library studying for a test and had no distractions without social media. I had time to read a book when I had some down time in between classes. I even painted my nails and went shopping in the afternoon. I’m not saying that staying off of social media will change your life drastically by any means; but it certainly gave me a little extra time for myself throughout the day.
Sure, social media is a useful tool that can help us keep up with current events or see where other people are in their lives; but it doesn’t have to consume your day. Time spent scrolling is time away from things that matter more. In the end we’re all just looking for people to go through life with and find a happiness that only being connected with other people can provide. Social media is not a way to establish a foundation in a relationship or build a deeper relationship. It’s useful to stay aware but nothing more.
So what will 24 hours without social media do to you? It makes you realize the value of presence and time. It allows you to reflect on your routines and adjust them if you realize just how unnecessary some of your habits are. I’m sure I will go right back to scrolling through social media every now and then, but this experiment has certainly shown me that it is more important to be present in the present and take in each day you’re given.
