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I had a lot of reflections and thoughts to share about my break from all Social Media; but because I couldn’t get on to post them, I’ve forgotten most of it.  But I did have a few bigger takeaways that really surprised me from being “unplugged” for a week.  Here’s two:

1. Social media has warped the way we think

The first thing I noticed while not being on social media was that my thoughts are now structured in my head by which social media I’d use to communicate that thought.  I had several “twitter thoughts” that were short and concise, but had to stay in my head.  I had a few “facebook encounters” that I couldn’t share, that I felt were more important, but they too had to stay in my head.  I saw things that I’d want to Instagram, but couldn’t.  And Pinterest… I still don’t get the alure.

But I realized my brain has been rewired to operate in social media share mode.  I now think thoughts in the context of social media, and I really don’t like that.  Have we become so self indulged that every thought we have, or thing that happens to us needs to be broadcast to the world?  While I see extreme value in social media, I’ll be sure to be more careful how I use it personally.  I want my thoughts to be framed within real conversation, or to flow freely in my head; not be shaped by which social media avenue I am going to share what goes on in my brain.

2.  Social media is habit forming

I turned off all notifications except phone, text and email (wouldn’t want to miss job opportunities) when I started.  Throughout the week, I would pick up my phone and open up my social media app box before quickly remembering I didn’t want to do that.  When I was on auto-pilot, or just coasting through the day, my natural instinct was to see what was going on with people.  That really doesn’t sound like my natural instinct.

I rarely comment on other people’s posts, I hardly read what other people put up, and I never “like” or “share” things you post telling me to do so.  Essentially I’m selfish in my social media use: I want you to want to know what I am doing and thinking, but I have no interest in genuinely reciprocating (you can unfriend me or stop following me for that, but deep down you’re likely the same).  I still really value real, authentic, face to face relationships.  This over connection via social media is isolating.  HOWEVER, I couldn’t get away from wanting to check and see what people were doing or saying.  How did I make it through high school without Facebook?   I don’t even remember what life was like back then.

Conclusion:

By the end of the week I really didn’t miss it anymore.  I was better connected with my wife and kids, more present in the things I was doing, and I didn’t miss anything.  A week of people’s lives happened via social media and I didn’t really miss anything.  If there was anything important, I got a text or phone call.  My close family and friends were still in touch, and I still had face to face interactions with real people.  I spent more time with my face in God’s book.  I lived through a week without social media… the world didn’t even explode or end, and it kept revolving apparently not around me.  Social media are a great tool, but I’ll be sure to suppress my heroin like need for a fix more often so that I can be active in the present, with real life people in front of me.

Please validate me as a person by liking, following or friending me.  😆

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