so·cial me·di·a
/ˌsōSHəl ˈmēdēə/
noun
- websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. (via google.com)
There was a time where waking up and checking all my social media channels was my first priority in the morning. I distinctly remember waking up this one morning and getting the worse migraine after mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram. At the time I didn’t think there such a correlation between the two.In 2020 I gave up most of my social media channels. It all started with Instagram. It was due to my mental health. I was catching myself comparing my looks, my life, and just being jealous of all the “picture perfect accounts”. The stay-at-home moms that were sharing how perfect their days were with their 4 plus kids. Or the fashion accounts with their perfect outfits (made me think of how much they must spend to have a new outfit for each picture). Lastly, the fiftfam community, which has been a huge part of my Instagram journey and who I used to be. I couldn’t bear looking at all those perfect bodies and muscles (while I was miserable and pregnant). So yes, you could say that my mental health played a big reason I deleted my Instagram from my phone.At this point Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were still part of my life. The difference is that my usage was very moderate compared to Instagram.It wasn’t until the pandemic hit hard that I decided to quit all the other social networks. There was something about reading the same stuff over and over and just me getting tired of the bad news on the daily.My pregnant-self just couldn’t handle it. I’m pretty sure I told my family members not to talk to me about pandemic related news until after baby was here.So as we reach the end of 2020, here a few things I’ve learned about my social media cleanse:I’ve been posting on the Internet for almost 11 years (blogging being the main platform) so with this in mind it is okay to take a break.It’s okay to be different than others and not try to follow every single trend out there. I never created a TIKTOK account and probably only ever will if it is for my baking business.Instagram was once a huge part of my life, but it’s not my passion. And if I don’t want to focus on that platform I don’t have to. I never was an Instagram influencer but more of a blogger anyways so I’m not missing out there.When you work on social media, you most definitely can pick your favorite platform and post on there only. Mine being my blog/Pinterest/YouTube.I learned this from a blogger that I interviewed once. We were talking about being creators and what platform made more sense for our craft. I told her that Instagram just wasn’t the same anymore and my blog at the moment was the only thing that was bringing me joy. She then told me that I should do that! I should just focus on my blog if that’s what made me happy. It’s was a great conversation and I’m glad it helped validate my feelings.YouTube was also another platform I turned to this year. The reason was all to better myself and my business. I spent hours watching cooking channels. Perfecting my craft. Learning from the pros. It also helped me create 3 business plans for all my businesses.So, here we are, almost a year later and I don’t regret my decisions. My love-hate relationship with social media has gotten better. I’m loving the creativity I’ve had all year. I’m loving the fact that I’m doing me.If I ever decide to get back on Instagram it won’t be for the likes and competition. It will for the content that I truly want to share. There won’t be a schedule or me refreshing my account every 5 seconds to see if got new followers.PS: Thank goodness for blogging. If I wasn’t able to put my emotions out there, my mental health would not be the same.There you have it,Have you ever done something extreme like this before? Did you regret it? What were the results?
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