I recently heard Struthless refer to social media as “the devil apps” & holy shit is that perfect. They call to us, pull us away, & are oh-so-tempting to spend an assload of time on.
I recently hopped on a few more social media apps. Really, just to check it out & see how I felt. So in addition to Facebook, I’m on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit, & BuzzFeed. I know what you’re thinking, “How do you have time to do anything?!” It’s easy. I rarely use them.
Even though I have more avenues to pursue, I find that I use them all significantly less than I thought. Before it was all unknown. Now that it’s known, I’m like, “meh.”
I can’t remember the last time I was on BuzzFeed or TikTok. I look at Reddit MAYBE once a week for a bit but that’s more for the subreddits if I’m looking for something in particular. As for Facebook, Instagram, & Snapchat, I’m on them for maybe a combined 15-20 minutes a day.
I’m not sure how to describe it all but it’s like a bunch of noise for me mentally. I need the quiet. I heard a statistic of something like we receive more news in one day than our grandparents received in a year. We literally have the world at our fingertips. If you wanna digitally travel the streets of a South Korean village, you can. If you wanna learn French in Quebec, you can take an online class set in Quebec. If you wanna listen to Tibetan monks sing & say their prayers every morning, you can.
The amount of information we have at our disposal is incredible. And while that’s amazing to have a pocket-sized computer with full access to the world, I also think there is something beautiful in living simply & taking a step back.
Being constantly flooded with information about other people who are younger, smarter, sexier, richer, & overall better than you is really draining. It doesn’t spark a competitive edge in me. Instead, it makes me feel low, discarded, with a touch of nihilism. So I try my best to avoid nonstop scrolling & instead focus on the positive attributes of social media. And for me, that’s taking in all that information in very small bites.
I’ve also been trying to be “unplugged” a lot more often. Part of this is because I feel like a goddamn ghost. Another part is that I’m happier when I live simply. I definitely don’t have it all figured out. I don’t know the proper balance. I don’t know the magic formula to be involved yet not at the same time. I’m still working through all of that. I just know that I desire a lot less when I’m not constantly scrolling.
finding my truth 
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