I’ve written a lot of posts recently about distancing myself from social media and having less screen time, which in this day and age, can feel somewhat impossible..
Recently, I read the best seller non-fiction book ‘Logging Off’ by Adele Zeynep Walton, and it’s an amazing eye-opener which has resulted in me making some more decisions about social media and my screen time.
What is the book about?
The book touches on a real life horrible experience Adele and her family went through where her sister became part of an online group that eventually resulted in her taking her own life. There are various factors in the book about things we already know, how the algorithms are controlled, how the Big Tech genuinely doesn’t care about human beings or their emotional wellbeing (that’s not new information though), there’s various conversations with families and people who have seen the dark side of social media. It touches on a lot of topics including how workplaces are now becoming more toxic due to technology, how different generations can be left out due to lack of tech knowledge.. it is a very insightful read. It’s also made me think hard about how social media makes me view myself and what I need to do different going forward.
Not everything good in my life is on a screen
A part of this book also touches on how we have got to a point where we start to feel less value in real life pleasures, because it’s not posted online for everyone to see. I have realised I am so guilty of this! I assume if my post doesn’t get enough likes or views that it’s obviously not good and I shouldn’t feel happy about it. It is such a silly narrative to have because if I’m sharing something I’m passionate or happy about, does that change my feelings if all my ‘friends’ online don’t see or like it? Of course not.
We need to stop allowing algorithms to dictate what we’re happy about
If a post isn’t getting a lot of likes, it’s mainly down to the fact that it’s either not getting viewed on peoples feeds, or it’s not showing up on the feed of people who would like it. I have to stop beating myself up whenever something I share isn’t getting the attention I hoped for.
More importantly, why am I craving that attention so much? From people I barely know? Does that make how happy I felt when I wrote a poem any less meaningful? Or my excitement over a blog post or a book any less important to me? No. But we’re now in a society where the new obsession is how we are perceived online. Consistently comparing ourselves to others in the same boat as us. If I keep allowing my mood to be affected by what goes on behind the screens, I will never experience true happiness.
Social media is a great tool, but I also need to stop giving it too much of my time.
I recently decided that Instagram is the only platform I enjoy using and I can be a lot stricter with my time on it. So, as someone who admittedly gets very sucked in by doomscrolling on various apps only to then beat herself up over the amount of tasks she hasn’t done, I’ve deleted my other social media profiles. TikTok and Facebook have been removed from my phone and my profiles should be permanently deleted in the next few weeks. Will I regret this in a few months time? I hope not.
I think the important thing I’ve learned from the book and my personal experiences is: there is always too much riding on the online platforms, and I get so overwhelmed and frustrated trying to keep up with it.
I need to spend more time in the real world, experience real feelings and experiences. I think the important thing is to focus not on what attention my posts get, but how I feel personally in all my day to day moments.
I appreciate that if I ever want my writing goals to be met and live my dream goals, I can’t do that without the online world, and it can be a good tool to have if I use it in the right way and in the right short timeframes. I’ve gone back to having screen time limits on my phone, I am still doing things like leaving my phone at home on purpose, and I’m scheduling a lot more on Insta now rather than trying to post multiple things in one go.
I still try and spend a bit of time online each day to keep my profile active, keep up with whats going on, and show love/appreciation where I can on peoples posts. But I am focusing on spending more time on my courses (yeah, I’m doing more than one course. I’m ambitious and mad, more on that later), getting lost in fictional works and writing in as much free moments as I can.
Hopefully we can all do with a little more ‘offline time’. Fingers crossed.
