Why I quit social media

It’s been approximately 5 months since I deleted all of the non-professional social media apps on my phone (X, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat…), and I wanted to share some reflections on this very elucidating experience. Whilst this is not for everyone, as in the XXIst century there are people who rely on social media for their emploment, I have found that, with apologies for sounding rather cliché, quitting social media has been one of the best decisions I have made in recent years.

I no longer feel the need to check my devices every few minutes, I have more time to exercise and to, most importantly, learn how to be alone with nothing to do. Whilst the last part may sound trivial, I think it’s a skill it has been lost in the last decade or so, which is rather unfortunate as it serves as a powerful tool for self-reflection and creativity. Especially in my field, probability, I feel that it is useful for me to think deeply about problem without distractions, and thanks to quitting social media I have been able to allocate more time to thinking that I would have otherwise spent scrolling mindlessly through my feed.

This is not to say social media is inherently bad; I do miss being able to catch up with my friends and reconnecting with people I haven’t seen in a while. Nonetheless, being present in the moment takes precedence for me, and I firmly believe that true friendships will outlast something as trivial as me not being online so much.

Another unexpected downside of quitting social media is the reaction people have when I answer “I don’t have X/Instagram/Snapchat” after being asked for my social media details. Nobody ever asks “Do you have (insert hot social media app here)?”, but they simply ask “What’s your (insert hot social media app here)?” as if it’s something that everyone in their early 20s has adopted unanimously. I find this both sad and amusing; sad because I have genuinely alienated myself from some social circles because of this, as some people think not having social media is unfathomable.

What’s truly suprising and even amusing at times, however, is that almost everybody has the same response when I tell them my current wrestle with social media, which is something along the lines of: “Oh, that sounds like a fantastic idea, I wish I could do that too”, as if deleting some apps from your phone was some sort of herculanean feat only achievable by a select few, compared to being an olympian athlete or a Nobel laureate. So, dear reader, whoever you may be (if there is anyone reading this), I challenge you to give it a genuine go for a week. Once you delete the apps, try to minimise the amount of time you think about them, and take this opportunity to go to the gym, read a book, or simply go outside and lay in the grass and look at the sky. You may be surprised by how much you enjoy it.