What I'm Deleting Off My Phone To Be More Real | The Odyssey Online
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What I'm Deleting Off My Phone To Be More Real

I'm going off social media.

Erin Donovan
Nov 15, 2016
Milligan College
12
What I'm Deleting Off My Phone To Be More Real
Pexels

Starting Sunday, November 13, 2016, I am going off of social media. I went on a retreat with our high school youth group this past weekend and we were talking about what got in the way of our relationship with God, and I realized that I had made social media an idol. I was on it ALL the time. I was on my Instagram, Finstagram (fake Instagram), the youth group Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Timehop. The list goes on forever.

I was always checking my notifications. It got so bad that my phone is always on do not disturb because of how many post notifications I had set up for myself. My fear of missing out came out strong. If people don't post pictures with me, I feel like they don't like me. Isn't that crazy? I am defining friendship through social media. How backward. I also have a Bible app on my phone, but that is never the first thing I check. Shouldn't it be? There are people that are dying to be a Christian, and here I am taking it for granted.

I did leave some apps on my phone. It's not just the Bible app on my phone: I left Facebook Messenger so that I can talk to Maddy Lee. I left Snapchat because that is not something I am on too much, and I'm not about to lose my over 200-day streak (shoutout to you Madi Card). I left the Dunkin Doughnuts app because I love Dunkin and you can't stop me.

Duolingo is there because I'm working on becoming fluent in Spanish and this thing helps so much. I am going to be honest... I also have Instagram. However, it's just for the youth group Instagram I run and have all other accounts logged out. Then, the SheReadsTruth app. I want to get to the point where that is the first app I open when I am mindlessly going on my phone.

I don't know how long that is going to take. It could be three weeks. It could three months. I don't want this controlling my life, anymore. That may sound dramatic, but I can't tell you how much time I put into my social media. Hours. I have my themed Instagram (only pictures with the A5, A6, HB1, HB2, KK1, KK2, P5, or T1 filters from VSCO (I did that all from memory. Lil bit scary.)).

On Twitter, I was always tweeting "quirky and relatable" things because I'm just so funny. I put on this facade. I'm letting that break down. I need to become real and making this "perfect" me is the opposite way to do that. I want to work on becoming vulnerable, and I am going to do that by working on relationships with people; not hiding behind a screen.

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