From MySpace to Snapchat, social media has exponentially increased our technological use and social interactions. It's valid to acknowledge all the good that comes from social media, whether your lost pet was found through sharing pictures on Facebook or you donated to the ALS Association during the Ice bucket challenge, but social media does not always live up to its potential.

I have vowed to stop using all of my social media accounts by the end of this academic year, with the exception of Facebook. I can attest that my use of social media in the media in the past has been way too high, and even as I cut back, I still use it more that I'd like. At various points in my life, I have deleted Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. During those times, I never felt left out or out of the loop, and I realized the successfulness of social media often relies on a user's fear of missing out or the need to feel better about their own lives. Although all of these various social platforms have the power to make positive impacts on an individual's daily life, that is not always the case with my experiences.

In the past, I have found the aforementioned social media platforms to be the least useful, yet the most 'addicting'. This comes back to the fear of missing out theory I have regarding social media. Snapchat lets you see unimportant, minute-by-minute visuals of the lives of anyone you choose. Instagram lets you know who was at the basketball game last night with a steady stream of 20+ identical, poorly edited photos. Twitter usually just fills your time with nonsense hashtags and memes. Not only does this lead to constantly having your phone in your hand (either by posting way too much or checking the updates of everyone else), but it suddenly feels like all the mundane occurrences in our lives every day need to be virtually documented for the world to see. What's the point of posting a picture of yourself every day? You look the same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before; your time is wasted either by constantly up-keeping your accounts, or your time is wasted keeping up with people who do. How much do you really care about what DJ Khaled or Kylie Jenner are up to every second of their day? Is your friendship less valuable if you don't see that your friend's name was horribly misspelled on her Starbucks cup? Yes, social media can be funny and entertaining, but lately I've seen that all it does in my own life is take up too much time with information that I ultimately will never use.

I have decided to keep my Facebook account because it has slowly become my extended contacts book and place to store all my photos when my phone memory is too full. Additionally, Facebook, although cluttered with click-bait, allows you to easily share information that you find useful or impactful. An average day on my Facebook news feed includes Ted talks, updates in politics, or quirky 30-seconds videos that will (hopefully) help me learn to cook. An average day of Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram consists of the same five people posting way more in 24 hours than I post in a year. But, perhaps most importantly, I value the content on social media because I am able to keep up with family and friends that I have lost contact with, either because of distance, time zones, or busy schedules.

I don't feel my attempts to cut out social media will be very difficult, mostly because I am making this change on my own terms. This is something I want to do in my life. It's not a New Year's resolution, a 30-day challenge, or a Lenten promise. I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of anything I want/need by making this decision. I've realized that social media sometimes has a toxic effect on my life, specifically with how much time I waste just tapping through a Snapchat story and reading through hundreds of tweets every day. I am starting to value my time more, and it's becoming easier for me to choose what important activities or pastimes I would rather do instead of remains active on social media. I certainly never thought I'd see the day where I didn't find Snapchat or Instagram interesting, and if you're someone who might be overusing social media, I hope you're able to adjust before you realize that most of your youth was spent staring at a phone screen.