The Glow Girl's Guide to... Quitting Social Media!

Social media has become an extremely important part of many people’s (mine included) daily routines! Whether you use it for work, your source of news, or a form of entertainment, social media is something that has somewhat taken over our lives.

A few weeks ago, I found myself just feeling completely overwhelmed with the consumption of all types of content. I found myself scrolling feeling happy one moment, and then sad the next: I let what I was consuming somewhat control my feelings. Consuming all forms of content — happy news, sad global news, looking at what other people are doing, and tons of enticing ways to spend money — was really making me feel overwhelmed.

Working in media, I always feel like I need to be on social media because I don’t want to miss anything, but at what expense was it costing me? Last week, I took a complete break from social media, logging out of all of my accounts. The first day was hard because I was tempted to log back in for FOMO, but after a few days off, I realized it wasn’t that serious.

Below are 3 things that I learned while off social media:

We Talk About Social Media… A LOT
I get really bad FOMO (I know, I’m working on it!), so when I made the decision to log off, I knew I’d be wondering what was going on. Ironically, I didn’t realize how much we talk about social media until people either asked or texted me about certain things, and I honestly didn’t know what’s going on. From seeing the latest viral video to hearing about some of the popular trending topics, I literally had no idea what was happening on social media. In a way it was kind of refreshing because my brain wasn’t trying to process everything that was happening online, but in another way I felt so lost and felt like I had to research and “catch up” on what was happening to contribute to certain conversations. You never realize how much you talk about what’s going on on social media until you’re not on and everyone is mentioning it.
I Really Wasn’t Missing Anything
I have news alerts set on my phone from the major news outlets, so if anything “major” happens, I am alerted. A lot of things that I follow on social media tend to be entertainment and lifestyle based, which is accurate because those are my interests; however, sometimes we take those things as the gospel for what’s going on and can forget there’s “life” outside of that. I was up to date on my local news happenings and then anything national or global that was of legit importance, I was just missing my celebrity, beauty, entertainment, and lifestyle news.

After getting back on social media yesterday and looking at some of the pages in which I consume content, I realized how much… dare I say it… trash news I was consuming daily.

When you really think about what’s important to your well-being and daily life, much of what we’re scrolling through on social media isn’t it.
I Was More Productive + Present
Not being on social media, you’re really forced to do a lot of things you may try to put off. It’s so easy to get caught up scrolling that you look up and you’re now on someone’s cousin’s friend’s uncle’s sister’s page and you don’t know how you got there… 1 hour later. Time passes by so fast, and I’ve often thought, OMG… I could’ve gotten so much other stuff done within that hour.

I was also more mentally present. The people I needed/wanted to talk to were available, via text or phone, and I was fine. I was able to think clearer, have less distractions, and was less worried about posting online because I felt like I ‘had’ to post what I was doing. I did activities, enjoyed them, took pictures for my own sake, and kept it moving. Productivity is so much more important than taking pictures of being productive.

This social media break taught me that I really need to do this more often for my own mental sanity. Granted, I love social media for all the positivity that comes from it, but honestly, sometimes you just need a break from scrolling through stuff and just genuinely enjoy your present life. Don’t be afraid to take a brief break for the sake of your sanity!