What it feels like to step away from social media
It’s all happening.
Dear Reader,
Have you ever felt like taking a break from social media? Yeah, me too.
How it all started
More than ten years ago, I made the decision to stop looking at Facebook. The main reason was that I felt like it was just too much information coming at me all of the time, and enough was enough. I still have an account, but with the exception of checking marketplace, I never use it. Do I miss it? Absolutely not.
When instagram was fun and then. . . it wasn't
Not long after I quit FB I discovered instagram. It looked like fun. No excessive news stories everywhere I looked, no gloom and doom, just photos. As a creative person, an empath, and an introvert, this seemed like a great option. So, I slowly grew my account, taking mostly pics of my family and life around me until I switched to a business account and started to take pics of the things I made everyday. I spent so much time taking photos of my work, even before I had a website, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great to get feedback, meet other artists, and discover what they were doing. Honestly, for a brief moment in time, it was inspiring. Then, like most things do in life. . . it changed. I wasn't seeing the accounts I followed anymore, people weren't seeing my posts. Suddenly there were ads everywhere, and the algorithm was trying to dictate what I should and shouldn't see. The joy in spending so much time taking photos and sharing them was gone, because those photos were just being released into the ether. When I tried to convey information, no one saw it. The frustration was at times overwhelming, especially when I was trying to advertise things that were happening with my business, such as shop updates. I was getting to the point where I really didn't know what I was going to do, until about five years ago when I made a big decision. I took a break from instagram for a month. Even though I had ditched Facebook many years ago, that was a personal account, but this was my business, so it seemed risky. After all, I had spent years growing my account, and what would happen if I walked away for a month? Would I lose followers? Would my business suffer? Even though I had lingering doubts, I knew it was the right decision, so I deleted the app, and for the entire month of November, I did not look at my account. One whole month of not being frustrated by the ever-capricious algorithm. One whole month of not taking photos to post and having no one see them. One whole month that felt like a vacation. And, I didn't lose any followers in the process.
What have I learned, what is my relationship with instagram now, and what does the future hold?
What I learned is something that I already knew in life, but I seemed to forget in the world of social media. I have to take care of myself. Taking breaks from the app has become increasingly common for me now for many reasons. In fact, I'm currently on a break right now. I was never one to scroll, and I've been setting an hour timer on the app for many years, but now, it just doesn't seem like it's enough. I would love to just delete my account and walk away for good, but as a business owner, that probably isn't feasible. And, I really do love the community that I created on instagram. For now though, I only download the app when I post and I delete the app right after. Not having the app on your phone makes it inconvenient, which in this case, is a great way to forget about it. I use my computer to check my messages, and that's about it. I honestly can't say what the future holds at this point, but I know that not feeling beholden to an app feels great. I have plans for local community connections starting in the spring/summer, and I'm looking forward to my show season starting in a couple of weeks. Real life connections are still the best.
For those of you who aren't local, you can always feel free to reach out to me via email to stay in touch.
wildchildfibers@gmail.com
xo, Christa
Thanks for reading-I’m glad you’re here.