7 Benefits of quitting social media for those ready to make a healthy change.
In January of 2021, I deleted my social media accounts. I only wish I wouldāve done it sooner. Yes, sharing photos with friends and family and messaging out of town relatives is a sweet blessing. However, for many of us social media becomes nothing more than a mindless way to pass the timeā¦ precious time that we can never get back.
I canāt help but think of all of the time I wasted over the years posting and scrollingā¦ time that couldāve been used on more meaningful pursuits. Time that I couldāve spent unwinding with a new book, discovering a new hobby, checking something off of my to-do list, or serving those in needā¦ engaging with my children, connecting with my husband, chatting with friends over warm cup of coffee, or starting a conversation with a stranger at the park.
What was once intended to bring people closer together has made us more disconnected than ever. Weāve become slaves to our devices, and are unable to function without whipping out our cell phones the very minute we encounter a moment of silence.
The day I finally made the decision to say goodbye and quit social media, a tiny weight was lifted. From a blogging perspective, I no longer needed to run the hamster wheel of continuously crafting new content for various platforms. And on a personal level, I was no longer comparing everyone elseās highlight reels to my often stressful special needs mom life. Nor was I dependent upon the approval of others for a minuscule rush of dopamine.
What Happens When You Delete Social Media
Below are a few reasons I chose to delete my social media accounts and the benefits that naturally followed.
1. Regained Time
Would it surprise you if I told you the average user spends 2.5 hours per day on social media (with younger generations spending closer to 4 hours). This equates to 36 entire days out of every year spent staring at a screenā¦ a tiny little screen that often evokes feelings of inadequacy, discontentment, anxiety, and depression.
Sweet friend, we are throwing away precious time, seasons, and even years of our lives that we can never get back. We must redeem the time now. Pour into your family. Joyfully serve another in need. Develop a new hobby. Explore Godās beautiful creation.
And never stop marveling at the precious gift of life.
2. More Present
When we make the decision to stop scrolling and lay aside our cell phones, we will naturally be more present in our everyday interactions. We will begin to value people as treasures worth our time. We will see the emptiness of distractions that steal our attention away from much worthier pursuits.
Our spouse, children, family, friends, acquaintances, and the strangers we pass by each and every day deserve better. May we give them our attention, smiles, respect, kindness, and love.
Related: 10 Simple Ways To Find Joy In The Little Things
3. Greater Capacity to Think For Yourself
In recent years, scientific studies have proven that the mere presence of a smart phone lowers our cognitive ability. I believe this holds true of social media as well, with the caveat being social mediaās main goal isnāt simply to lower intelligence, but to get us to think a certain way.
The messages weāre constantly absorbing canāt help but affect our minds and hearts, and are limiting our ability to use the beautiful gift of our brains and think logically for ourselves.
Deleting social media allows us to form our own opinions on a topic based on the evidence that surrounds us and our search for solid truth, instead of falling prey to the images and voices inundating our news feeds.
4. Realistic Expectations
Deep down, we all know the social media is filled with unrealistic ideals, but for some reason we repeatedly fall for the lie that they are thriving in life while weāre failing epically. As a result, we become consumed with self and focus an unhealthy amount of time reeling over our appearance, limitations, and failures.
Eliminating these distractions naturally paints a more accurate view of life, which allows us to tackle legitimate issues and shift our gaze outward in order to pursue healthy and achievable goals, while primarily focusing on the needs of others, not ourselves.
5. Less Negativity & Agendas
I donāt think many of us realize how much negativity weāre exposing ourselves to day in and day out through the use of social media. Whether through news articles that randomly appear on our feeds or other users comments, weāre bombarded with a constant reminder of the brokenness of our world.
I would agree that it is important to know what is taking place in our country and the world around us, but not to the point where weāre consumed with darkness and constantly fearing over an unknown future.
Quitting social media allows us to do our own research on current events in our own time frame without exposing ourselves to too much and being weighed down by the sorrows, pain, depravity, and fallenness of the entire human population. Yes, we should absolutely desire to know how to help and pray for others, but we also must put healthy boundaries in place to prevent ourselves from spiraling into anxiety and depression as a result.
We were never meant to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.
Being on the business side of social media through blogging also greatly opened my eyes to the deception and agendas of these platforms. Thereās no denying that they prefer certain content over others and will censor posts, halt impressions, and thereby limit viewership (of true and wholesome content) regarding ideas that go against their preferences.
A company genuinely bent on fostering healthy communities wonāt coerce, manipulate, or silence those who hold respectable opinions that differ from their own.
6. More Privacy
Most of us are aware of the use of ācookiesā on websites and social media platforms. These tracking devices allow companies to profit off of our interests. A few years ago, however, social media platforms began taking this too far.
One platform in particular released a statement that, in essence, claimed by keeping your account open you were giving them permission to listen in on your conversations through the use of your cell phone microphoneā¦Not just when you were actively using their platform, but anytime they wanted to tune in to a private conversation you may be having in the comforts of your own home.
It was shortly after this that I finally made the decision to delete my own social media accounts. And in case you arenāt aware, Google does this tooāas well as countless other apps.
Friends, since when are we more concerned about viewing photos and videos of acquaintances and influencersāpeople with whom we have no real relationship and are often not influencing us for the betterā than protecting our families, freedoms, and privacy?
(Hereās a helpful article on how to prevent companies like Google (and other apps) from listening in and gathering private data. Also, I am in no way affiliated with the Brave web browser, but would highly recommend it for the use of browsing websites, YouTube, Spotify, etc. privately and completely ad free.)
7. No Validation Needed
I remember reading many years ago that Facebook was specifically designed to be addictive. Former president Sean Parker states their original goal was to āconsume as much of [our] time and conscious attention as possibleā.
Parker later regretted the role he played in launching the social network giant: āI donāt know if I really understood the consequences of what I was sayingā¦ It literally changes your relationship with society, with each other. It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what itās doing to our childrenās brainsā¦ā.
Parker goes on to say, āItās a social-validation feedback loop ā¦ exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because youāre exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.ā
Being on the receiving end of that little social validation ālikeā button sends a signal to our brains to release happy hormones such as dopamine, while the constant flood of new visuals and information leaves us yearning for more.
Why Do We Have Such a Strong Desire For Approval?
We are relational beings specifically created for community. Because of this, we have an innate desire to be loved and yes, even liked. But the reality is that weāre fallen people living in a fallen world. We will never garner the approval of all.
Truthfully, the only approval worth seeking is that of the One who died to be our Savior, and He says we are worthy. Not because of any merit of our own, but simply because He created us, in His image, and loves us unconditionally.
Although Godās love for us is far greater than we can fathom, He is also holy and righteous, and weāre broken sinners who fall short of His glory. We have all lied, stolen, lusted, harbored hatred, dishonored our parents, and coveted among other things (Exodus 20, Matthew 5), and our sin requires paymentāeither of our own doing by living eternally separated from Him or through the act of a merciful Redeemer.
Jesus, Godās perfect and sinless Son stepped down from Heaven to offer Himself as a sacrifice in our place. If we genuinely turn away from our sin, seek His forgiveness, and follow Him, we can rest assured of an eternity spent with Him and a sweet peace and joy that can never be taken away.
Quitting Social Media Allows You to Reclaim Your Life
I am not downplaying the good that can come from social media. However, the amount of time the average user is spending on these platforms is simply not worth it.
Instead of scrolling and interacting online, I encourage you to engage in person with your real life genuine friends. Call them for no other reason than to say hi and see how theyāre doing. Invite them out for a cup of coffee. Stop by their house to drop off a small note and gift to make them feel seen and appreciated. Send an old fashioned hand written letter to let them know youāre thinking of them.
Friend, the reality is that weāve become addicted to our devices and itās altering our brains. Put your phone down. Live in this present moment and cherish the precious souls around you, not meaningless pursuits that rob you of joy.
Thereās a whole lot of peace waiting for you on the other side.
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