As the title suggests I did, in fact, delete my Snapchat account. I deleted it permanently two weeks ago and feel good about my decision with no intention of creating a new one.

I know what you're thinking: do I have FOMO (fear of missing out)? Sure, I am human and have emotions, but the wiser soul in me knows there are other ways to make plans with people. As the days pass since the deletion, I no longer think about it as much.

And, here's why I deleted it:

In an effort to protect and clean up my online identity, to prevent the company from continuing to sell my data to third parties, to unplug.

Snapchat stories, in essence, are windows into the lives of many people you have added. Each view is just a glimpse. Everyone on Snapchat picks and chooses what they want to share, so already it isn't necessarily a true representation of the lifestyle they live. However, we often forget about this and we start to compare ourselves and lifestyle. I just needed to remove myself from the program. Too many people have become sheep to the application and have grown a strong connection with it. This is exactly what it's designed to do for its users. They then collect your data, location, pictures, and videos. Who's to say they don't sell this to advisers to create ads specifically for you?

To get back to creating meaningful relationships.

I rather have significant friendships with people I care about by either texting, calling, or dare I say it meet them in real life. The way I see it, those who you care about you probably already have their contact info outside of Snapchat. Before I deleted my account, I posted a story to inform my Snapchat friends and give them an opportunity to exchange phone numbers to stay in touch or to continue to talk. Thus, the true friends and people that genuinely care about me would respond and we'd continue to talk outside the app if I didn't have their number already.

Get away from the distractions.

There are so many tools and techniques in our society today that are used to entertain and distract us from being a critical thinker. When there's time to analyze aspects of your life, society, government, social and cultural issues, etc. you will realize many truths. A select amount of people with true power don't want you to realize these truths because it goes against their agenda. So, my advice is to unplug every once and a while. You don't have to completely delete your entire account as I did, but you can try to set limits on how often you go on Snapchat, delete the app and download it again later, etc. I wish you the best of luck if you decide to delete your account or give an effort to disconnect every now and then!