For my Religion and Ecology class we were given an assignment to give up something that will be difficult for us to give up. After some careful thinking and scrolling through Facebook I knew exactly what I needed to give up for seven days. I needed to fast from social media for those seven days because it dawned on me how much I relied on it. So I logged off Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram and I was ready for my journey.
How I felt/thought on my day to day without social media: The first two days were just weird and hard. People kept telling me they tagged me in this and in that. People were trying to communicate with me through Facebook and would ask me in person why I did not respond to them. Friends were snapping me pictures of their recent life developments and since I could not see any of that a few people were worried that I was mad at them and I got so many of my friends telling me we should talk. I just could not believe that social media dictated my life that much. I questioned whether I could actually make it through this fast.
Days three and four got a whole easier because I came to terms with the fact that I was not on social media and it really was not the end of the world. I kept myself really busy so I was tempted into logging back in or anything. I started realizing that I do not have to post on my snapchat the cool things I am doing that I instead could simply enjoy those cool things. When i got coffee with my friend it was okay not to put it up on my snapchat to show the world the cool design in my cup or show people who I was hanging out with. I was coming to the realization that the best thing to do was enjoy life in the present moment without feeling the need to show everyone everything.
The last few days are so much easier. I have done so much reflecting that I am just whatever about social media right at the moment.
Overall Reflections I have shared what I was doing with people and they have said they also want to fast from social media because they think it would healthy for them. The conversations I have had with people about my experience is just amazing because a lot of them agree and see the importance of maybe taking a step back from social media and just enjoy life without the constant need to check what everyone else is up to.
This experience has really forced me to question why I post things in the first. Do i post them for myself or to get a reaction from people who probably do not even care. This experience has definitely made me apperciate personal connections and face to face conversations.
