Why I Quit Social Media
Author: Emily Alcock
Emily is changing lives in her gap year as a Yipiyap Tutor. Think you could be a future Yipiyap?
Life After Quitting Social Media
Last November, Yipiyap tutor Emily took the plunge and disconnected from social media for good. Emily talks about how she came to her decision, the damage social media can do, and how her life has changed post-socials.
Think about the amount of time you spend on social media platforms. Today, it’s so easy to get swept up in the world of social media and spend hours falling deeper into the rabbit hole without thinking too much about it.
Picking up a mobile phone and zoning out whilst watching videos, liking photos and writing comments seems to have become the pastime of choice for many of us, often without us even being aware of it. After going through a rough patch in my personal life, where I found myself spending upwards of ten hours a day on my phone, I decided that it was definitely time to reassess my choices, focus on the things that really mattered to me and what I was actually a part of and had control over.
“My life is only mine and I am finally going to live it the way that I want to.”
Reasons to quit social media
Late November saw me at a particularly low point; I had left all my hobbies behind, had little interest in anything besides Netflix or Instagram and found myself struggling with the idea of who I was as a human being. I found it so difficult to have pride in myself or have any confidence when everyone I saw online seemed to be doing so much better than I was. There would be days when I felt sick at the thought of waking up and having to go through the day with my current state of mind. After meeting up with a friend for coffee and having a long chat about the issues and struggles we were both facing, I came to the conclusion that my feelings of inadequacy stemmed from the obsession I had developed with comparing myself to the ‘perfect’ people I followed on social media.
It was at that point that I decided to remove the object of my misery and begin to find my way in life again so when I went home, I deactivated my social media accounts. I quit Instagram. I permanently deleted Facebook. I quit social media - and I never looked back.
Giving up social media
My choice to deactivate social media was met with a lot of praise (my mum even decided to follow in my footsteps a week later saying, “I think everyone could do with a social media cleanse”) but also with a fair share of shock. We live in such a connected world that several people couldn’t understand why you should delete social media.
I explained that everyone I want to share information with on a regular basis are on WhatsApp and they are more than happy with chatting over there instead of on social media and that I needed a break from the fabricated realities that took over my brain when I opened all these apps.
Life without social media
One thing that has become clear to me now, is that there are lots of things in my life that I hardly used to notice. For example, when I travel in the car, on the bus or on the train, I actually pay attention to the world around me instead of burying my head in my phone. It may sound trivial, but my journeys started to surprise me as I had never looked up long enough to see what was outside the window, so I felt like I was discovering new things every day. Moreover, my connection to my real life deepened as, for so long, my family and I would sit together in the living room but hardly speak to each other because we were too engrossed in what we had on our screens, now we have good conversations and focus on the time we spend together during the day.
However, what has become most evident is the positive change in the way I view myself. I have never been the most confident person, but since deleting social media, my self-confidence has most certainly increased. The absence of a comparison allows me to embrace my life for what it is and appreciate what I have without worrying about what I don’t have or what I would alter about myself. I have more time for things that I enjoy and improve my life, such as paying attention to nutrition, going to the gym and meditation. My quality of sleep is significantly better; I genuinely feel well rested when I wake up in the morning, which is something I have struggled with for a long time and never understood the cause. The hobbies that I thought would be left in the past have become a crucial part of life and I have started spending more time with others, whether that be at choir, badminton or simply going out for lunch.
I never understood how much my life had been controlled by what I saw online until I decided to make a change. For years, I had felt like I was never going to achieve as highly as anyone else, never going to be as pretty as other women and that my life was never going to be as ‘aesthetically pleasing’ as the people I followed, but, now, none of that matters.
My life is only mine and I am finally going to live it the way that I want to.
Is social media affecting your wellbeing?
If you’re concerned about the effects of social media on your own wellbeing, taking a break or going cold turkey like Emily could help out. Even if you don’t want to quit social media, it’s important to be aware of the impact it can have on your psyche so you can be confident that you’re using social media in the way that’s best for you, or decide whether cutting back or quitting altogether is the right choice for you.
What other ways can I improve my wellbeing?
The NHS offers some great starting point for improving your own mental wellbeing.
Other Yipiyaps have written about how they care for their mental health: