I Quit Social Media And It Changed My Life

I quit social media over 6 months ago, and it changed my life.

My journey with social media

I grew up in a time when Facebook was the most popular social media platform. Literally everyone in high school had a Facebook - otherwise, you were "the weird kid".

And honestly, my relationship with Facebook wasn't too bad.

The slower-form nature of Facebook made it more forgiving for mental health. Especially back then.

They didn't have features like stories, reels, or anything fancy. The old Facebook interface actually looked plain as fuck.

So my early experiences with social media weren't too bad.

Where things really started to get toxic is when I started using Instagram.

I was quite late to the whole Instagram party. Social media in general never appealed to me much so I wasn't ever compelled to download Instagram.

It was only when I picked up photography as a hobby that I started using Instagram, as I wanted somewhere I could share my work.

I never intended to take Instagram seriously. Just something light and casual. I had zero intention of consuming other people's content and becoming a fully-fledged "Instagram User". Because quite frankly, I couldn't give less fucks about what restaurant Justin is eating at on a Sunday night.

But then the problems started arising:

Creating for "likes"

As a "creator" who was posting photography in public for the world to assess, it made me judge the value of my art based on the number of likes it got.

It was like one of the most powerful drugs out there. I would post a photo and I couldn't help but check my phone to see how well it did amongst my followers.

As you can guess, this completely sucks the joy out of creating art.

If I was really proud of a photo I made, and then I posted it and it didn’t get many likes, I wouldn’t like it anymore. I was placing the value of my art on other people's opinions instead of my own.

Before every post I would think to myself:

• "Will people think this is good?"

• "Is this photo/caption cringy?"

• "Will people even care about this?"

It got to a point where I stopped creating for myself and started creating for likes.

When you're hooked by the jaws of social media and you start posting for others instead of yourself - you’re fucked. It is a horrible way to live.

Mental health issues

As I began posting on Instagram and people started to follow my page, I felt compelled to follow them back out of respect. (It's hard not to when you get that hit of dopamine and that shiny "Follow back" button is in your face).

So I go ahead and hit follow back, and the next thing you know the app has lured me into its cuddly arms of consumption. I start browsing daily - looking at everyone's new posts and story updates. And when all of those have been exhausted, I start scrolling through the "Explore" feed like a meth addict searching for his next hit.

This also takes a massive toll on your mental health as you see everyone's amazing lives and you can't help but compare your behind-the-scenes to their highlight reel.

Social media is a place where everyone is encouraged to share the best of their lives. They want to show everyone the cool things they're up to, along with all their achievements.

It's no secret now that social media usage is strongly correlated to mental health issues.

Countless studies have found that the more time people spent on social media, the more likely they were to experience negative mental health outcomes, such as increased anxiety and depression.

A survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that social media use was associated with increased feelings of loneliness, envy, negative self-esteem and FOMO (fear of missing out).

FOMO, Loneliness, Disconnection

A common objection to quitting social media is that people like to tell themselves social media helps in staying connected.

I don't buy this.

If you really wanted to stay connected with your friends you can always call and text them.

In my opinion, there is nothing lonelier than watching your “friends” having fun from behind a piece of glass while you’re laying in bed at 2 o clock in the morning.

Humans naturally want to be included in groups and experiences. Dating back to our primal days, if you were excluded from your tribe you're almost guaranteed to die trying to fend for yourself.

Social media shows you everything that you're missing out on. With the constant stream of updates, it's all too easy to feel like you're being excluded from your tribe.

Cheap dopamine and ruined attention spans.

With the rise of short-form content - people's brains are becoming wired to seek fresh dopamine hits every few seconds. Tik-Toks and Reels have destroyed our generation's attention span. The average kid these days can't even read a book without getting distracted. Some people can't even watch a MOVIE without checking their phone multiple times.

The ability to focus is becoming a lost art in today's age of instant gratification.

And those who can regain this lost ability will be able to achieve things that most won't.

Being able to give your undivided attention to something for even 90 minutes is a superpower today.

Waste of time

Mental issues aside, social media is also just a giant waste of fucking time.

Millenials spend over 3.5 hours on their phone each day - about 2.5 hours on social media.

There are so many things you can do to spend your time better.

Think of how different your life could be if you spent an extra 2.5 hours each day on becoming a better version of yourself.

You could be exercising, reading, pursuing personal interests, or spending time with loved ones.

You'd be a completely different person 6 months from now.

Hopefully, you now understand how big of a problem social media can be. I now want to share I was able to unchain myself from these shackles.

To be honest, it wasn't until I was forced to take a break that I realized how toxic social media was for me.

I was using Instagram daily up until about 6 months ago when I went on a 10-day silent meditation retreat. This retreat, also known as a vipassana retreat was an intense 10-day course involving meditating all day every day.

During this time we could not use our phones. In fact, we couldn't use anything. No phone, no camera, no communication, no books, no sorts of distractions or sources of stimuli. Just 10 straight days of meditation. (My retreat experience is a whole other topic I could talk about for days so I'll leave the details for another time).

During this retreat, I had no choice but to take a hard break from social media as I had to hand in my phone upon arrival.

I wish I could tell you there was some secret trick to quitting, but all it took was 10 days with my own mind away from all the digital noise.

After those 10 days, I was able to see through the facade of social media and I haven’t had the urge to use it since. In fact, I'm almost repulsed at the fact of browsing through Instagram.

It’s like a veil has been lifted and I can see through all the toxicity and posturing on the platform.

Life after quitting

It's now been over 6 months since quitting.

One of the major benefits I’ve noticed is increased self-confidence and self-love. We see others posting about their achievements, vacations, and other highlights of their lives online. And it can be easy to compare ourselves and feel like we're falling short.

Quitting social media will reduce the amount of social comparison we engage in. This can lead to increased self-confidence and improved mental health.

Since quitting, I've learned to become okay with who I am, and that is a fantastic fucking feeling.

I’ve also regained my love for photography - taking photos purely for myself, not with the intention of getting likes.

Another benefit is, there's something nice about not needing to constantly check my feed. As selfish as this may sound - It feels empowering to not care what the fuck everyone else is up to. It's helped me to realize that a lot of friendships are superficial.

You don’t need to keep a running log of every person you’ve met. Most of these people you will never even speak to again. I can 100% guarantee you there are some people you see every day on social media, but you'll never speak to them in person ever again. Do you really need to know if Suzanne from high school gets married? Why would you waste any mental bandwidth on that?

And lastly, the final way that quitting social media has changed my life is that it has restored my ability to focus and do deep work.

I'm now using my time to build projects that matter to me. I can focus my time and attention on things that I actually want to do.

I’ve been working on my business, I've been exercising more, I'm in better shape, I read more, and I focus my time on my hobbies and interests.

I can 100% say my life has improved in all aspects since quitting social media and there is no chance I am ever going back.

How you can quit

You’re probably hoping I can give you “5 easy tips and tricks to quit social media”.

Some shit like:

• Set a timer on your apps to limit your social media use

• Unfollow or block people who post negative content,

• Stick to positive content that make you feel good

• Take a break from social media every once in a while

Nope, none of that.

I have no fancy course to sell you, or tips and tricks to give you.

The solution is very simple.

Just quit.

Delete your accounts.

Delete the apps.

Done.

I know some people might ask - what if I can’t bring myself to do that?

That's completely fine, no worries. Have fun staying unhappy.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Cheers,

— Ivan