Social Media Detox

Kudos to you quitting social media. With everybody filtering their lives online to create the 'perfect' look. You are one of millions to feel the pressure of having to look, or even feel a certain way. Living a life seeking validation from others from how many 'likes' or shares from your posts should never be the basis of your self-worth and happiness. This is why many people have depression, anxiety or other mental health problems. There's a growing number of reports that social media can trigger these problems for many people. The sad reality is that many people value themselves (and their lives) from the validation they get from others on social media.

As you asked yourself 'why do I need other people to show how worthy I am?'. The simple answer is that you don't. You know how worthy you are and only you can answer that. Of which I suspect is one of the reasons you've quit social media right? You don't need to show off on how happy you are. Which is probably more than likely to be a portrayal from the most active users on social media. It may look like they're having the 'time of their lives'. But let's put something into perspective here. For example, how much time they are wasting for social media rather than living life in the present moment. Taking loads a pic of a meal they're having at a restaurant, so they can find the perfect image to filter, etc. It's pathetic in all honesty. All for the means of impressing and seeking approval from others.

You may miss the 'likes' now, but that's your withdrawal symptoms talking there. You'll soon realise that you don't need social media. Especially if you feel like you're not gaining anything from it – which I suspect you weren't. I've been off social media for three months as I write this. I've been so much happier and haven't looked back.

Before I finish, Merry Christmas to you and a happy new year!

 

You're doing things you think other people will approve you for. So you end up creating this fake life that people spend 1 second to press the like button for while your real self is being neglected.

Those likes and high school popularity in general fades away very quickly... because it's unimportant and empty.

If your friends are only approving of you because you're posting model pictures, then they won't be around very long.

Spend your time and energy on better things.

 

The thing is... once you've actually experienced the messy, awkward, imperfect, and uncertain reality, you'll eventually see that it's better than the perfectionism you see on social media (or media in general). The way to the positive in reality is through the negative. The positive is the result of being able to handle the negative better. If you shut yourself off from the negative, then you won't have much of a positive. So people look to easier and more comfortable things like porn, tv, and social media to fill their lives. There's no personal risk in that. So it minimizes the negatives in your reality, but it also minimizes the positives.

There's great satisfaction in going through difficult trials and achieving something. As opposed to settling for the easy approval and instant gratification you would get from social media and other similar things that people live vicariously through.

Social media was initially meant to keep in touch with people and for the sake of networking. Somewhere along the way it became this competition to become the most popular perfectionist. I use snapchat to keep in touch with old friends I don't get to see anymore.

Think about this as well. If everyone is putting up videos / pictures to show how amazing their life is... if someone they know puts up pictures / videos of their vulnerable flaws and difficult times, don't you think the person that shows how real they are would stand out more?

 

Social media is cancer, just leave it.

 

I remember when facebook was first doing it's big rollout when I was in high school. I enjoyed it for a few years until I realized I was just starting to post things not because they were my own opinions or things I felt strongly about, but just to fit in. Goodness, that was a miserable realization.

Please, don't think that wanting approval from others is stupid or weird. It's pretty normal, ESPECIALLY if you're in high school. Being lonely is something most people aren't suited for and especially if you're used to normal social interaction, than wanting normal social approval is pretty typical. Social media tends to hijack those social systems we have in the same way that excessive fast food hijacks your appetite. It's giving you what you crave, but not what you need,