Walking the Line Between Love And Hate For Social Media

The Social Media Conundrum 

As a blogger, I am constantly walking the line between love and hate for social media. I mentioned to a friend that I deleted the Twitter and Facebook apps from my phone at the start of 2017. And her first question to me was, “But aren’t you a blogger, how does that work?”

It’s been working just fine, thankyouverymuch. For me, being constantly connected all the time, was draining. I truly feel blessed to be living in this information age, but damn! I crave simpler interactions, where I can focus on the person and conversation at hand. And where we don’t look at our phones all the time.

If I’m out with friends, I want to give them my undivided attention because time is precious. And if in this busy world we now live in, with all it’s distraction someone chooses to spend their limited time with you, I feel like we need to honour that.

Don’t get me wrong, social media has it’s place. But this constant checking our various timelines and refreshing your feed over and over…no matter the cost to your pocket – hello data? – or your peace of mind data is concerning. What are we so afraid of missing out on?

The solution

For me, it started with prioritizing my unplugged time. I started with some pretty drastic measures, not only did I delete the apps from my phone, but an hour before I went to bed I would put my phone on airplane mode. Then I wouldn’t switch it back until I was well on the way to work.

Drastic, but it worked. My mornings felt much easier and I got a proper handle on my day before I got bombarded by news,  morning posts and memes. Eventually I got in the habit of disconnecting before bedtime and I didn’t need to put my phone on airplane mode.

I still walk the line between love and hate for social media, only now I’m better at taking care of myself. I know when to disconnect, unfollow and unfriend. And as for FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) – I got over that a loooong time ago.

Has this ever happened to you? Do you feel drained being so connected all the time? Have you ever taken a break from social media? Feel free to leave a comment below.