Stanisland Magazine

Escaping from the chaos and noise of social media can be wonderfully therapeutic. We find out why quitting social media can be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make for your well-being and happiness.

Social media is a platform designed to proliferate countless tribes. It is a byproduct of the enterprise of capitalism. Its motivation isn’t to give you a space to express yourself, but rather, give you a space not to.

There are few platforms left for us to be ourselves, and Instagram, Tik-Tok, Twitter, Threads is not one of them. If you want to leave, it is entirely up to you. But the pros outweigh the cons.

Why leaving social media is good

It is a provocative tool for those of us who like to stay connected, and many of us are wilfully ignorant of its decadent ills. We remain on social media because we are addicted to it, and we are part of a large Orwellian-like farm, unaware of the power we wield to leave and usurp our captors.

READ MORE: In searching for identity, we are losing it

Yet it’s taken years of mental neglect and witnessing a not so long-ago series of unfortunate facts to decide that enough is enough and I’m thankful for that. Ironically thankful after ranting and moaning about my choices turned discrepancies.

It’s time we all faced the music and samba our way out of these platforms before it’s too late. Every site has their myspace day, and it’s looking like Facebook is about to implode.

We’ve already seen the rotten apples of Cambridge Analytica harvesting our data, our digital organs so to speak like kidneys on the black market up for grabs. Now they’ve been outed for the Manchurian wizards they are, what’s next? What else is behind the curtain?

You don’t need to be on social media to run a business, plenty of businesses ‘made it’ without it. In fact, most firms indicate how it’s not considered an important tributary of their business. Instead, most view it as a customer service tool, complementary to their enterprise.

What to expect and what it’s like

Chestnuts are never in short supply when I tell friends I am leaving Instagram and other social media platforms; they rarely believe me. But I don’t need them to, because I’ve already tested the possibilities before with a successful outcome. The difference between now and then, is that I have a broader outlook of what it’s like to be on, off and on and reflect upon the effects.

What I do know after experimenting and living without social media for a good year and a half is that I felt calmer, composed and fully present.

The ticks, the nerves and withdrawal symptoms soon fade away, and if you’re telling yourself that you have to be on social media, then you really are kidding yourself. Worse yet, milking yourself for them.

Following revelations of Facebook’s mood manipulation experiments and the Cambridge Analytica scandal I just have to ask the question – what kind of society are we living in? Poop hits the fan, they tell us they made an unorthodox beauty mask and we forget it happened, voluntarily erasing it from memory? Do we like being punched in the face? It seems the answer is—yes.

The impact of leaving digital spaces

Social platforms lack the security needed for a safe democracy and for sharing personal details. As technology improves, so does the ability to penetrate encrypted messenger services and social accounts. Even in a million years, the danger will remain and increase, proving consideration of posting/sharing a photograph of yourself, family, friends and your children a dubious action at best.

We were/are being manipulated; by the selfies, the good lives, the information, luxuries that everyone seems to be able to afford these days. Only, that should have read, the self-portraits of validation, the short-lived throwaway daily lives, the misinformation, the luxuries bought on credit.

Freeing yourself from an environment that did not prioritise your well-being is an inherently gratifying experience. When you step out of these “spaces” you never truly inhabited, a subtle revolution takes shape during the withdrawal process. What used to hold significance, will lose its importance, while the once-overlooked, gains a newfound value.

Final thoughts on digital minimalism

Don’t kick it until you’ve tried it, because you will undoubtedly find nobility in its effects. Sooner or later, you will quantify how wrong you were and how insular we all are to the gravity of our position. The visceral feelings of deliverance from a mind-mapping prison keeping us from weightlessness and true meaning are a joy rarely experienced, and though these reviews of existentialism come from a man who truly believes in them, you should definitely give them a go. Because the review is largely positive of this analogue life.