In today's society, we are constantly buried in our own phones, and obsessed with knowing every detail about our friends and followers on social media. Whether it's scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed to see who got into a relationship, or looking at people's Snapchat's stories - there's always something going on in the world of technology.
As an avid iPhone user, I'm glued to my phone and everything it has to offer - except for me, it would always end self-deprecation and tears. I would constantly look at girls I thought were prettier than me and keep looking them up to make myself feel even worse, for whatever reason. Due to how upset all that made me every day, two of my friends Casey and Andrew came up with the wonderful idea of me not using social media for a week to see how I would feel afterward.
This lovely idea came from Casey first - about a year ago actually - and she wanted to have me delete all of my social media apps, but thankfully, Andrew interjected the last time Casey brought it up and said I shouldn't have to delete my apps to avoid social media. This experiment, of course, had a few rules and exceptions.
THE RULES:
1.) No aimless scrolling through my newsfeeds when I'm bored
2.) No liking, commenting, or interacting with everyone (aside from a few people).
3.) No Facebook "stalking" anyone I thought was better than me.
4.) And I couldn't be on social media for extended periods of time.
THE EXCEPTIONS:
1.) The only social media apps/sites I could not use were Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (AKA the "holy trinity" of social media). Meaning, I could use Tumblr, Snapchat, and Messenger.
2.) Since I could use three apps, I was also allowed to talk to my boyfriend and online friends through those apps.
3.) Because my articles post onto my Facebook wall, I was only allowed to use Facebook for my articles - and sometimes for my work study because part of my job is to handle social media.
THE OUTCOME:
Obviously, the fact that I was able to use a few social media apps/sites made it easier for me to survive without the "holy trinity." But I did struggle - quite a bit, actually. A week without Instagram especially wreaked havoc on my sleep schedule; I use the Instagram app daily as a filler when I have time - I browse through the "explore" section, and post pictures any moment I have a chance. I realized how bored and tired I get without the stimulation of Instagram because I wasn't able to fall asleep until about 2 A.M. most nights this past week - and I actually took a nap this past week, which I've only done one other time this semester. Every day without the three apps, I would watch my friends go through their Facebook and Instagram feeds and I realized how often everyone uses those apps. While I had it super easy and was able to use a few apps, the self-esteem issue I had when looking at people that I thought were better than me improved: I overall feel happier because of that. If there's one thing I learned from this week-long experiment, it's that I can resist certain apps and feel much better about myself, and it's a good thing for everyone to do every once in a while.
