Week 1B: Social Media Use Today

Social Media has become such a big part of our everyday lives that it seems to have become normalized to be on it excessively and abnormal to not use it.  I was always aware of that subconsciously, but never really thought much of it.  That was until last year when I took a break from social media.  I realized how much of our communication goes through social media platforms now as opposed to calls, texts, or face to face.

The first month of my break, the majority of texts I received were links to videos/posts on social media and even a lot of search engine results link to social media so it took a continuous conscious effort and a couple reminders to friends & family in order for me to be able to stick to my intended break.  The only platforms I continued to use are YouTube (for entertainment, not engaging or creating), Nextdoor, Peanut & Pinterest sometimes for recipe ideas.

I wasn't sure how long of a break I was going to take initially, I had just felt like I was stuck in a rut of endless scrolling and it had started to feel mind-numbing.  Not only was it hindering and distracting me from my priorities like spending quality time making memories with my family, but I also noticed a negative impact to my mental health.  It's hard not to get sucked in to comparing yourself and your life to the seeming "perfection" we see online, even though that's usually not the reality.

It felt a little weird and isolating at first, but I feel more focused and motivated and have been able to be more productive than ever before.  I filled my extra time with going back to school, cooking, and starting new activities with my husband and kids such as fishing. Also, our daughter will be starting home school soon so I know that will take up a portion of my time as well.

I've been off social media for about a year now and I can't really imagine going back on, at least not to the extent that I was before.  However, I do understand social media is a pretty essential aspect to any successful business so I would prefer to use it strictly for business.