I'm sure you're all gutted that you won't be seeing my top quality online content for a few weeks... NOT! You're probably overjoyed haha!
Why gal, why?
- I don't like how much of my life is dictated by social media. Because of the years of using it, I find that in every situation there are always thoughts in the back of my mind like 'how can I word what just happened in to a witty tweet', 'this would make such a good Instagram', 'ahh this would make such a funny Snapchat story', 'so-and-so would love this I must send them a picture of it!' etc. It's like I need to find a way to document and share every vaguely funny, interesting, or sad thing that happens to me. I'm not sure why this is, I guess it's been a gradual thing. I just want to be present in every moment I'm in - not with my mind off thinking about how to make it into a great status of some description.
- I waste SO much time online! It is my primary source of procrastination material. If I'm ever trying to get something done, I somehow find myself catching up on everyone's Snapchat stories, scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, or Twitter, just always scrolling and scrolling and SCROLLING. I'm surprised I haven't developed a repetitive strain injury in my thumb to be honest!
- I love social media and I hardly think it's an evil or anything but checking my social media accounts is the first thing I do when I wake up and one of the last things I do before bed. I think it's time my priorities changed.
- Unlike some people, I'm not really fussed by how many followers I have or how many likes a post gets and I'm certainly not afraid to be myself and make a fool out of myself online (it happens all the time in the real world so why pretend lol) however I do think that I get some validation from social media. I know my worth but it often feels like I'm looking for confirmation of this online - through peoples comments/reactions to the things I do and say. I don't think this is a healthy mindset but it's certainly an easy one to slip in to as it is things are presented these days: your value is determined by how many followers you have and how many likes/comments you get. This is such rubbish and so I want to have a break from it.
- It means I'm going to have to make more of a conscious effort to stay in touch with people. I'm going to need to contact friends directly to find out how they are and what they're up to - rather than just relying on their tweets to gauge where they're at! Often people present a front on social media so I think this is the better way to look out for someone anyway!
- I can't really remember what life is like without social media... I'm hoping it is a simpler and purer existence lol. I'm hoping that I will fill the time I would have been spending online in a more positive and productive way. Although this may be wishful thinking; I'm a natural procrastinator!
When, What, How?
I'm going 'offline' tomorrow for the whole month of May. Let's call it 'Media free May'. I will be taking a break from Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram as these are the social media sites/apps that I use. I shall still be on Messenger, WhatsApp and of course text/calls (I'm not a complete mad woman!) So I'm not going off the grid but won't be posting anything publicly or scrolling through any feeds! And I'm going to have to start watching the actual news now instead of relying on twitter haha! Fresh perspective, here I come?!
Wish me luck, I think I'm going to - rather embarrassingly - find this really hard! I can be pretty darn determined and strong willed though so I'm sure I'll be fine. And because I've made this post, you can all hold me accountable! I'll still be blogging and I'll definitely do a post when we get to June about how I found the experience.
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Katie xxx
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