Yesterday I overheard my husband watching Snapchat stories.

What I overheard were the voices of people I used to watch and interact with online through the platform.

“Wow, are they STILL on that?” I asked him.

When you’ve been off social media for a while now (since June 2022), it’s difficult to reconcile in your head that others haven’t. The reason is that you simply don’t see people’s posts and stories, you’ve stopped interaction with them and you’re doing other things in your life. Pretty soon, both you (and them) have moved on.

It’s made me realise how fickle and short term online relationships with effectively, strangers whom you’ve not had a shared personal experience with, are.

I follow Parisian Vibe on YouTube and they uploaded their latest video which is pertinent to today’s post about social media.

What I like about this video is her comment about “being radical”. The act of not using these tools when the whole world seems to be on them is radical. You’re going against the grain. You’re standing out because of your difference – and this means that others may not understand.

At the same time, this distance that you give to social media allows you to get your own power back. Personally, I feel that this time off has increased my attention span, made me enjoy reading (my love) again and I know it sounds weird, but I feel I “see things and situations more clear for what they are”.

To be honest though, I did feel a tinge of sadness yesterday overhearing their voices on Snapchat and momentarily, I wondered if I should get back on but almost immediately, I went back to my book and into my wonderful story of Prince Andrei trying to get his father and his sister Marya out of their Bald Hills estate because of the French Army coming their way. I then realised I would never have been able to achieve my goal of reading a 1300 page book like War and Peace if I had all these social media posts to write and respond to.

I’d take reading books over social media any day. Books offer more insights and lessons without taking over control of our lives to make us buy more things.

Here’s what Stephanie (in the video) says about it:

1. Books give you more conscience as to what’s going on.

2. Books add more distance between you and social media for you to learn more about yourself and to be the master.

3. The new plague of the century is “addiction” to social media creating neuroses and mental health troubles.

Books to Read:

Book 1: Persuasive Technology by BJ Fogg

Book 2: The Civilisation of the Gold Fish by Bruno Patino

Book 3: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier (here’s my video review)

You may even like You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier which I reviewed as well.

Over to you: Are you considering a change in how you approach social media in 2023?