I only have time for the truly important things. . . like instagram.
The other night, I was laying in bed looking at instagram on my iPad. I love instagram, but it's the reason I gave up my smartphone. I was looking at it on my phone all the time! I was looking at it instead of reading a book, or instead of talking to my darling children. Getting rid of my smartphone helped me break the habit. For a while. Until I started looking at it on the iPad too much. Blerg.
But the other night, I realized for the first time that looking at instagram (and other social media) wasn't only making me distracted, but it was making me anxious, too. It was making me feel jumbled. I was being bombarded by pictures and information about people I didn't even know! On purpose! My brain couldn't handle it anymore. So I took instagram off my iPad. I don't know why I become so addicted to it, but I do, and now that it's not there anymore, I don't even miss it. Honest.
Can we go back to the good old days?--the days when people just lived their lives and weren't aware of what their friends or neighbors or perfect strangers were doing/buying/being. That sounds pretty great to me.
Mike has a smartphone, so I can log into my instagram account on his phone if I really feel compelled to post a picture or check to see what my family is up to.
I realize the best step would be to get rid of it all together. (There's so much garbage on it, anyway, and sometimes I wonder why I'm even letting it into my home.) I think I might be working toward that. Baby steps. . .
Posts
Here is the thing I try to remember... Not everything on any form of social media is intended with the public as the primary audience. For many, it is an easy way to document a family's or an individual's history. In that light, it only reflects what the author especially wants to remember -- an online scrapbook or album, if you will. I blogged for seven years for my family and now I just use Instagram. I love it. But it is very easy to tap that search icon and begin clicking endlessly on images that appeal because of similar things many of us like. For me, it is kind of like skimming magazines. I think social media accounts tend to extract more personal feelings of jealousy than magazines ever did, though, because the lifestyles they represent seem like they should be more attainable. I do love the fact that social media can so easily connect a person on one side of the globe or country with another and for little to no cost. We just have to remain vigilant about how it affects us as individuals and families and not compromise our principles in using these communication tools. I respect your choices and boundaries very much, and I think your continued revisiting of this topic shows that you are determined to be balanced about the time you spend documenting and consuming media.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a perfect comment!
DeleteThat would be wonderful if everyone in our family lived on the same street. :( I'm always paring down my follow list, but then I start following some lady who makes beautiful glass jewelry or something random and it starts all over again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. I too have an Instagram addiction. It's constant! I have up my Instagram app 3 years ago.. But I'm back in the habit of looking at a few certain accounts, and also YouTube channels. I want to give it all up. Blog reading though, I will keep. I love to read. But still should probably be on it less. A lot less. There are more important things to do, and more important things to learn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. I too have an Instagram addiction. It's constant! I have up my Instagram app 3 years ago.. But I'm back in the habit of looking at a few certain accounts, and also YouTube channels. I want to give it all up. Blog reading though, I will keep. I love to read. But still should probably be on it less. A lot less. There are more important things to do, and more important things to learn.
ReplyDeleteI think like the top comment that the fact that you keep revisiting your boundaries on it means you're doing ok! While reading the Anne of Green Gables series, I noticed how neighbors come over with the sole intention to gossip. They tell each other what they think of stuff and go over what people wore, how they acted, etc. just like we do on instagram! Except they did it face to face. That makes me want to talk to my neighbors more BUT is also makes me feel like my instagram group is more of a timeless thing--my friends live so far away but we do still have a chance to "gossip" (or socialize) because of the technology. So I can't decide how I ultimately feel about it...:)
ReplyDeletePS I'm embarrassed at all the typos in my comment. I have lost the art of proofreading. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I gave up FB for lent a few years ago and just gave up instagram because I started getting annoyed and thinking I need that dress, that family is having so much fun, etc...! i wish we did not have all this information. Especially for our kids. Keep your posts up. I really enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteYou inspired me (again). I deleted the Instagram app off my devices this morning! Now we'll just have to rely on seeing each other to catch up ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree too! I love old fashioned. I went to New Zealand after high school for a year. My closest friend from there and I still keep in touch - via snail mail only. I don't have her phone number or email address. We have been keeping up out letter correspondence for fifteen years now. I'm quite proud of it! I am not on any social media and my life feels much fuller and more satisfying for it.
ReplyDelete