Servant of Social Media: Escaping Facebook - A Small Reflection

Servant of Social Media: Escaping Facebook - A Small Reflection

There are times in your life when you become a servant of the tools that are supposed to be serving you.

I had to delete Facebook a couple of months ago.

Giving up on my business, I found I had no use for Facebook other than to the age-old consumption of other people's opinions.

It turns out other people's opinions aren't good for you, especially if you want to stick to your own path.

I wanted to share my thoughts on how I feel after six weeks of having no access to Facebook.

More time to think

This may sound trivial to some. In today's busy world we get seldom get time to think.

Imagine clearing up two to three hours per day, as well as eliminating much of your mental garbage.

Besides the occasional glance at LinkedIn, I don't browse any social media - this has a tremendous impact on how many advertisements I see, not to mention the constant consumption of contradictory opinions and viewpoints, all of which have little to no use to you.

You can't fill your mind with mental baggage and simply choose not to be clogged down. It weighs heavy, and you start to notice that as you take a step back.

A sense of control

Laser-focussed. That's the goal.

Since releasing myself of the burden that is social media apps (on my phone particularly), I've freed myself up to spend time on a more suitable app.

Audible.

As well as adding more new books that are marketing focused to my hardback collection, since reading is a mental exercise I feel is still a huge necessity, I have racked up over eighty beloved Audible listening hours.

It's incredible if you think that in just 56 days I've been able to spare an enormous 80 hours listening to books.

Its approximately 1.5 hours a day - that's ninety minutes.

Add the extra time I spend reading, which is at least half an hour daily every morning and sometimes in excess of an hour in the evenings, it's a lot of time I'm able to invest in the future, rather looking for self-validation in the present - all of this time must have come from my absence from social, as I've read more books in the last six weeks than I have in the prior six months.

Retracting the authority.. earning your self-esteem

Somehow Facebook gives us a delusional perception of our accomplishments.

An edited photo can generate more likes than a post about your first day opening your new business venture, or closing your first deal.

It's a like-for-like system. I like you, you like me, and we are all happy with ourselves.

Over time we learn to give up on our sense of self. We hand over the authority to others in regards to our self esteem.

They hold the secret to success. If only we can get more acceptance.

When you're not receiving the dopamine from the artificial likes you receive online. You have to do something to feel good other than just post a photo of yourself, or some cliche statement that feeds into the vacuum you're engulfed in within your online presence.

"You have to do something to feel good." That's an underrated statement.

You escape the vortex

You're in a vacuum when you browse social media. Fact.

The topics you like show up more. The topics you don't like show up less. It's a simple yet addictive formula.

They have teams at Facebook to study how to keep you engaged longer - to keep you addicted.

Without the conspiratorial spin, simply consider that fact you are constantly reaffirmed in your beliefs and set of principles. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of liking of common beliefs and values, leading you to further identify with who you already are.

When you escape all that, you can start to consider other points of view you may not have even read should you be continually exposing yourself your friend's opinions on Facebook.

You might get this information from a book, or a Forbes article or where ever you want to go for the data.

But the simple fact is, you won't find it on social media. Not unless you've already "liked" something that is relevant to the topic, further fortifying the walls of your echo chamber.

I could speak all day on the benefits of deleting Facebook.

I doubt you'll ever see a blog post I write, "Why I feel grateful for being back on Facebook."

Or maybe I will be one day. But for now? I'm fine without social media.

Besides posting articles on LinkedIn, there's not much use for them in my honest opinion. And I only do this so I actually proof-read and finish my blogs, and I'm not left with 100 unfinished thoughts.

Could you delete Facebook? If not - what compels you to stay on the platform? Think about it... what purpose does it serve for you? Or have you also become a servant of social media?