Why I ditched Social Media

Ditching Social Media wasn’t a hard decision for me as the ‘toxic’ nature of this form of media, made it easy to hit that delete button. And I hit it hard! I deleted two accounts amounting to over 30k followers with the flick of a switch, and even though that was easy, it was still a relief to finally say goodbye to it.

So let’s break down my reasons for getting rid of Social (clears throats), I mean ANTI-Social Media! Let’s call it like it is or at least how it’s become.

positive, positive, positive – let’s do the opposite of what social media perpetrates

If there’s something I’ve learned over the past 1.5 years, it’s to get rid of anything negative from my life. Yes that includes people, situations and things. We are living in a toxic world in more ways than one, so removing any additional toxic avenues was a must.

I now have a belief system that if anything doesn’t make me feel good, it probably isn’t good for me 😉 . I’m a firm believer in whatever you put out, you get back. So if we constantly engage in negative stuff, chances are, we’ll attract more of it. The way I judge this is that if I’m engaging in an activity, let’s say scrolling through social media, and I don’t leave that situation feeling energised and elevated, then it’s probably not that good for me.

Ditching social media to focus on positive things was not an overnight decision, but rather a transition that took place over time. Because I also manage other people’s social media accounts, I have to still be somewhat disciplined because I have daily exposure to that. But this is where I have gradually increased my self-discipline but need to be able to maintain it. More to come on this.

Watch this short clip to see how social media has affected our society as a whole.

the big ditch & the time bonus

Social media is an absolute time sucker. Constant scrolling can be just that, constant! If we aren’t self-disciplined, scrolling can turn from minutes into….. well hours depending on the person. After understanding algorithms and what gets placed in the feed, it becomes easier to understand how certain platforms keep you skulking around on there for longer.

After becoming sick and building my own website, I spent a lot of time writing posts and making graphics. But after doing this under a pseudo name for a year, I thought I better put a face to the logo and brand so I started to create posts for Instagram and Facebook. So much time and energy went into creating and posting these posts, but doing it on someone else’s platform.

While I learned a lot from researching the immune system and essential vitamins and minerals needed for my health, each post usually took a decent amount of time. This time could’ve been better spent on curating posts on my own blog so making the shift to start doing this more, was kinda easy. Again it comes down to where I want to place my energy. And energy is TIME!

negative or absent media coverage on social media

If you haven’t already clicked on to the fact that a large majority of media is being currently being suppressed, it might be time to look into it. Old Trumpie coined the term ‘fake news’ and boy was he right. I thought this was an absolute joke at the time.

The majority of “news” that’s being streamed through some of these negative platforms, is just that, ‘fake’. It’s difficult to even call it news as it’s so scripted and manufactured that it’s a joke that a large majority of people have cottoned onto now. Anybody who’s edited images or graphics (like I do), will know just how easy it is to ‘doctor’ images to serve a purpose. Definitely, more on this topic to come.

Hit that delete button!

Before I hit the delete button on FaceBook, I started by deleting all the mainstream news pages. These are the worse for a skewing of the truth so they went first. These days, I watch alternative channels with health and well-being news like the Gaia platform, ThriveOn, Dr Bruce Lipton, The Resonance Science Foundation, plus others.

Another reason for ditching social media based on the negative media coverage, was that the algorithms are formulated to keep you on the platform for longer. So if you engage in negative information, that negative information will be presented to you more often. This then results in us staying on the platform for longer so you get where I’m going with this. It’s like a vicious cycle of negativity. I found the best way for me to avoid this form of toxicity, was to avoid the platforms altogether and that way, my exposure to negative information was removed.

cooperation, not competition

A bit of healthy competition is good for us. Unfortunately, social media really wants to achieve the opposite. A large majority of the information presented to us on these platforms is carefully curated and designed. The perfect selfie that took ‘x’ amounts of attempts, the holiday pics of feet or legs by the pool or beach to prove that that’s our legs next to a beautiful environment, the achievements that we like to celebrate, all take time and feel kinda artificial. Oh and I don’t know about you but I’m definitely not a fan of those feet by the pool pics.

I found that the amount of time I was spending putting up a post that summed up what I was doing, was not only time-consuming, it felt false and didn’t really depict what I was trying to achieve. I guess I would rather put my efforts into creating content that others can actually learn from. Maybe it’s to make a simple meal, a cleaning hack, a life hack, or something that might help someone else achieve a personal development goal. If I can help just one person achieve something, job done. I also felt there was no further need to prove to other people what I was doing. As long as I was happy with my own efforts towards obtaining a healthy lifestyle, proving it to others was no longer necessary. I’m content and happy with the way my life is so there’s nothing to prove 🙂

the current education system exacerbates the self-esteem problem & lack of contentment we’re seeing right now

Blah, blah, blah I guess Charlie Brown was right! Since we are at school, we’re taught to be in competition with each other. Do better than the next person. Achieve more than the next person. Don’t look different or stand out in some way.

After teaching in this model of education, it was abundantly clear that while competition can be healthy, and that healthy competition is good, a lot of what I would see on social media platforms encouraged a form of very unhealthy competition. The kind of competition where people needed to show just how wonderful their lives were. But were their lives that wonderful? Only we can answer that question.

It would be great to see a new generation of platforms emerge that encourage people to work together instead of against each other. Platforms that encourage positivity, not hate, violence, greed or overconsumption. After switching off, it’s made me dislike these ‘legacy’ platforms even more and focus my energy on things that will improve my self-confidence, and not deteriorate it instead.

And, it’s possible to do the same if you’re interested in changing your relationship with social media.

I can’t imagine what it’s like for a young person growing up in today’s world with social media beating down the door to their brain at every turn. The number of young people experiencing feelings of insecurity about their weight, their looks, how they feel, and how they might want to be seen, makes me incredibly sad. Don’t we want our young people to be growing up in a world that celebrates them the way they are and empowers them to be their best selves? Confident young people not only want to be healthy and happy themselves, but they also want those around them to achieve the same. I don’t have my own children, but if I did, I would want them to be happy and not compare themselves to others. At least this is what I tried to accomplish while being a teacher.

Being ourselves and appreciating our flaws and positive features is something we really need to be teaching our young people of today. That it’s ok to be ourselves and not compare ourselves or our achievements to others. We are all unique and special in our own way and that’s something that should be celebrated, not shunned.

ditching social media provides a great opportunity to avoid energy-sucking of every kind

Most people know what an energy vampire is these days and the chances are, we have all encountered one or more. Well social media is kinda like an energy vampire of the technological kind. Through social media, we can have a constant connection to other people and this might not be in a good way. Unless we are very well disciplined and can control our exposure to social media, our exposure to energy-sucking content and people can intrude on our lives.

A long time ago, to avoid this negative exposure to people on social media, I unfollowed their profile first. This reduced my exposure to their content appearing in my feed. But this wasn’t enough. It was only when Facebook and Instagram went down a couple of weeks ago, that I made the decision to avoid it altogether.

When the two platforms went down, I was elated, to say the least. This was a massive signal that this form of media was no good for me. When they came back online, I was disappointed. Again, a massive signal to remove the energy-sucking forms in a way I could. So I pressed delete on my pages. I was given 14 days to repent for my sins haha – and reinstall the pages. This didn’t happen and I’m grateful for that.

time to focus on the world we want to create

If you’re like me and are fed up with the way things have been going, then finding the time to create the world we want to see, is a must. Slowly over time, I’ve learned to focus my energy on the things that matter. This includes what I want to see in my existing environment and beyond.

Who doesn’t want a better world? And if we do, we need to spend the time on its creation. While certain platforms are coming to their demise, others are forming in the background. Are they better? Not sure as of yet but any platform that focuses on real life, truth and real events, will be a damn sight better than the main ones we have at the moment.

I want a better world. A cleaner world. A non-violent and non-aggressive world. A world that doesn’t tear down the rights and freedom of others just to get ahead for money or greed, and I’m prepared to spend my time on creating that instead of on legacy platforms that seem to do the opposite.

If you want to create the world you want, jump on Pinterest and start creating your own vision boards. It’s a positive platform aimed at creating a diverse and positive environment. It’s a visual search engine, not social media as some may think.

ditching social media gives us time to focus on our own well-being

It’s time to start focusing on the health and well-being inside our own homes and not the well-being of others. For some unknown reason, it’s being drummed into us that we need to put our own health at risk for others. It might be a good time to look after our own health first and let that be an example to others so they can then improve their health. It’s an idea worth pondering for sure because if we don’t have our own health, we actually have nothing.

Related Post – Improving Our Well-Being– 

So, instead of taking time to carefully prep my plate of food that I want to share with the world, or making a post about something I did in nature, I’m now going to put my energy into curating posts about ‘why’ I do what I do. This is to provide detailed information to others so they can replicate what I do but with more understanding.

I had no idea what I was doing when I first started getting healthy and I suspect there are many more people out there who have no idea where to start. I used to spend so much time creating healthy lifestyle posts to post on other platforms, I neglected my own website – that I pay for! Crazy! But after the great ditch, I now have more time to write posts such as this and to eat the food that I’m going to eat anyway, walk the walk I was walking anyway, rather than make sure it all looks pretty for Instagram. Watch this space!

bottom line

If you’re looking for a little more than putting negative peeps or info on mute, looking for a reason to disengage from that unhealthy relationship with social media, feel like you need a break from toxicity, or just need some more time up your sleeve to get stuff done, deactivate your account and see how you feel. If it feels good, proceed.

If you have more time, go with it. Focus your energy on things that matter. Focus on things that are positive and make you feel good when you finish the activity. Focus on the things you’d like to see come into your reality and actually BE your reality. Give it a try!

Oh and if you have a story to share that may be helpful to others, share it! Start your own website or platform. Your story may really benefit others.

Additional Information

If you think you have an addiction to social media or anything else that gives you a dopamine hit (that you want to try to change), check out this 10-minute video clip below.

Gutidentity on Etsy

Want to learn more? Check out my health and well-being resources on Etsy. Click the image to go straight to the shop or scan the code.