Oh boy. She’s back at it again with another Facebook rant.
I know, I know. But after being so dramatic about leaving the first time, I felt like maybe some might be interested to know what is going on. For the others who don’t care, I bid you farewell from this post.
The dangers of social media is definitely a thing. So if you feel like you might be going crazy thinking, why do I hate social media so much, maybe my post will relate to you. In fact, I want to tell you you are not alone. I’ve discovered that there are quite a few others who have felt the negative effect of social media (see Yes Theory and Simon Sineks view on the matter).
I deleted my Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts 6 months ago and I’m being completely honest when I say it felt like my brain went on a holiday.
What I discovered
Taking in a diverse range of information in a matter of a few scrolls is really not healthy. If you’ve never felt this way, I commend you for your thick skin.
Yes, I ignored things that might have upset me, and yes I’ve blocked and/or unfollowed, but you can’t control everything and certain things always seemed to reappear in my thoughts later the day or even randomly later during the week.
My brain started feeling numb to a point where things didn’t seem real. There is a personal interaction that has disappeared amongst people. Life has been devalued and like Simon Sinek says, you lose that deeper fulfillment. Instead of one-on-one personal time, talking and sharing news is now announced digitally. What happened? What happened to phone calls sharing amazing news?
Yes, I understand it makes reaching everyone a lot easier, and yes, we don’t all have time to message every single person individually, but to put it bluntly you cannot compare quality over quantity. More people are slipping into the digital-cocaine world where they have literally forgotten the value of life itself and anything real-in-the-moment.
Please understand, I know I can’t tell anyone what they can or can not post, but I feel there needs to be an awareness about the large amount of negativity already swallowing the internet, and social interaction.
Now again, I’m not saying Facebook is evil, but I feel that social media platforms should be used responsibly either way. If you really think about all the information a brain consumes daily, it is easy to see why people have become more short-tempered than ever, and again, lost social interaction. Our brains cannot cope with working on overdrive 24/7. Your brain needs a time out and balance.
Re-joining Facebook
I wasn’t completely off social media. I still used Instagram – yes I know Facebook owns it, but what I enjoy about the platform is that I see one kind of thing, photos (and sometimes a motivational quote in between). I’m not bombed with devastating images about crime and/or abuse, in general, I experience a lot less negativity on the platform.
The short and sweet of it is I’m back because of my business (fun fact: you can not turn an Instagram account into a business account, without Facebook), and I’m kind of taking what might be considered a “selfish” approach to using it. I have avoided the news feed and not because I want to offend anyone, but because I’m working on keeping things simple and my mind healthy. I am taking a bit of control over how much I consume digitally.
And yes, maybe I am also trying to force people to make more personal contact instead of glancing over my profile, making no personal contact at all.
