Okay first off, that title is a lie BUT only because I kept Snapchat since it’s my main source of talking with friends and I don’t use the snap feed.
Now that that is out of the way…I did uninstall every other social media.
I’d been a pretty avid social media user for a couple of years at least. I have put in more hours into my Instagram search feed and surfing Facebook groups than any other hobby/entertainment. I enjoyed it in the moment, but I would often end up feeling like I had just wasted all that time. It seems that this is a very common problem for the current generation. We want the temporary gratification, the temporary dopamine “fix”, but it doesn’t give us any lasting benefits.
That being said, after watching some videos and doing some reading on the way our brains work with dopamine and endorphins, etc (Simon Sinek did an AWESOME Ted Talk on it – Linked HERE) I decided I needed to take some action on it.
I started with a month, I posted on Facebook and Instagram saying that “I was leaving for an indefinite period of time, and to contact me use messenger or text”. Then I uninstalled them from my phone and didn’t touch them for a month. Then I logged in on my computer and caught up a bit but I determined nothing I had missed warranted me reinstalling the apps. Nowadays both the apps are logged into my phone’s chrome account, but the muscle memory and desire to check them is nonexistent and I only log in to check specific things.
After I had done this, I realized there was no reason for me to have Pinterest or Twitter either. So I uninstalled them both. I’m still logged into the accounts on my phone & computer’s chrome accounts, but again I have to make a very conscious effort to check them.
*Side note*
I was often using Pinterest as a way to vent my thoughts and emotions without talking to someone. I’m sure you can see how this was unhealthy for a variety of reasons. Before I uninstalled Pinterest I went through and deleted several boards so that I would have a clean slate and even less desire to go there. I wanted to be making sure I was either talking to a real person or God. Nowadays I mostly use it for future planning, bedroom & office design, and the occasional life quote or meme.
*End side note*
Let’s be real, some of us do need to keep a social media app available for various reasons. For me, it’s Facebook. My church has a couple of Facebook groups that we use to manage various sectors and to keep in touch with one another on different things. But I didn’t need the notifications for that, and I certainly didn’t need to see it 4,484,942 times a day. So, now I simply log into Facebook on my phone or computer and check the groups…and then sign out.
How does this benefit me?
I often still open my phone to check an app, I’m a Gen-Z’er and it’s just what I do. But when I open my phone and find no apps to open, A. I can’t be distracted by them and B. It allows me to realize I am distracted and consciously decide to put my phone down and be productive. Or at least to choose the entertainment I want and not let it choose me. That low-quality entertainment no longer sucks hours of my day away, and instead, I can fill the time with extra study time, some side hustle work, or maybe even a good YouTube video I enjoy.
How does this benefit you? (I kinda like this, maybe I’ll always do this ;P)
If you take 5 minutes, to sit down and consider how much benefit you are receiving from an app, and then decide it’s worth removing…that creates 1 less distraction in your life. 1 less distraction means that much more free time per day. That free time in a day means you can create a side hustle or put extra work into studying…and who knows…you might just have more opportunities to change the world.
So whaddya say, go uninstall just 1 social media app to start, and tweet me letting me know which one it is!