#OccupyMyself: Confessions Of A Social Media Deserter

Online cat

“I was feeling tired and anxious: I was addicted to social media.” Photo: Wm. Li (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

I would probably never have known it was Social Media Week last September had Rayna, a fellow Global Voices colleague, not come to London for it. It seems to be such a big international event that anyone who works for Global Voices must have known about it. But I did not: I am a social media deserter.

First, I left Twitter. After an intense period of over-use during the Brazilian national elections in 2010, I was knackered. Was it what they call information overload? Besides being physically tired, realising I could not be on the top of everything made me feel powerless as well. I was addicted the energy and buzz of social media, but I could no longer keep going. By the beginning of 2011, I had left completely.

After experiencing proper withdrawal symptoms that caused me to stare repeatedly at the login page, I started to feel better. Suddenly I had more time and energy to do things I used to enjoy, like reading books, and things that I wished I had time for, like learning to meditate.

Leaving Facebook was a more considered decision. After Twitter, it had become the sole black hole sucking up my time. As I was about to start a very intensive course in Psychosynthesis coupled with a new university degree, my free time had became too costly, my attention too precious. I knew Facebook had the ability to distract me and take my focus away from my inner self, so I set my departure date for before 2012, and said goodbye to the few friends who still saw my updates in their increasingly busy timelines. I quietly deactivated my account, aware that I tend to addiction and that it was this, not the tools, that were the root cause of my problem.

I have missed seeing photos of friends’ new babies and kittens, party invitations, interesting events, and daily updates about people I care for. I have not missed the game invitations, memes, or being bombarded with advertisements. Also on the plus side, I have become more selective about the information I consume, the raw material of my thoughts. I feel sad that only a few friends drop me notes or send me photos elsewhere, and I admit I haven't been that good at keeping in touch either.

I miss feeling connected, but truth be told, when I meet people and have one of those “Didn't-you-see-it-on-Facebook?” moments where I'm surprised with old news everyone has already seen on their timelines, they usually say, “Oh, I hadn't noticed you left”. Is this being connected to people in a meaningful way?

I don't miss Twitter or Facebook, but I confess I created a “fake” account to promote a cause last year, ended up using it to follow my friend's pregnancy, and then got in touch with our common circle of 10 close friends. I am, however, just a silent member of their audience, not willing to be publicly intimate on my own timeline. I have been forced into Google Plus because many of my colleagues have begun to use Hangouts instead of Skype. And I once opened a Twitter account for a service I was offering, but found it unbearable. It felt like I was shouting in the middle of a street packed with screaming people. Deafening—and boring. I quickly went back to my own inner hashtag, #occupymyself.

Cat breaking free

“One day, I decided to break free.” Photo by Eric Hacke (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Will I ever return to social media? I don't know. I miss my old friends. I miss meeting new like-minded people, like @giantpandinha, one of my best “real life” friends whom I would never have met if it wasn't for Twitter. I miss having a laugh sometimes at some random silly post. There's still a little voice inside me tell me I'm missing out. Sometimes I consider going back, but maybe I'll wait till I finish university and have more time. By then, I hope there will be social media tools facilitating more consciously minded connections.

But by then, when I do have more time, perhaps I will prefer to do yoga, garden, explore nature, or do the many other things on my life to-do list. I enjoy the time offline after spending whole workdays connected. I still spend much more time in front of computers than I wish I did, and have read fewer books than I've hoped to, but it's wonderful to meditate every day and explore my precious inner space, instead of getting distracted by others. Having time for myself has been the biggest change in my life since I became social media-free.

I love the fact that, when I'm out there in the world, I no longer feel the compulsion to check, read, post, report, share, or measure my relevance in “retweets” or ‘likes’. I pay better attention to what people say, and I'm able to focus fully on what I'm experiencing. Free from an overdose of external distraction, I can better connect to myself.

No longer satisfied with being merely social media-free, I have booked myself on a silent Vipassana retreat in the coming weeks, where I shall spend 10 days doing nothing but sitting still and meditating from 4am to 9pm. I dare my social media friends to do that for even 10 minutes!

Zen cat

“Now I am zen!” Photo by Evan Lovely (CC BY 2.0)

Paula Góes, from Brazil, is a reformed social media addict and the Multilingual Editor of Global Voices.

15 comments

  • dianegordon

    Oh, I love it, because friends on Facebook share some interests that friends in my life don’t share. What’s wrong with having both?

    • Absolutely nothing, if that works for you ;)

    • thabomophiring

      Am more with you for instance it is not social media that prevents me from undertaking a meditation retreat – just laziness. I advocate balance, the middle way

      • That’s wonderful, it shows you are not addicted to it and can just stop whenever you want, for the time you want, right? I agree balance is good!

        • thabomophiring

          well I cannot stop talking whenever I want for the time I want, because I like to talk. I also cannot stop daydreaming whenever I want, for the time I want.
          It does not mean that I am addicted to talking or dreaming.

          For something to be an addiction, it also has to harmful effects like a drug addiction causes actual definable harm. This downgrading of addiction to middle class problems is not useful.
          Finally, when the novel was introduced, there were similar dire warnings issued about the effect of women engaging with novels rather than humans. It is not really about addiction, just resistance to change.
          Which is ok, but please let us not label it self-indulgently.

          • I appreciate your comments – I can only talk about my own experience here, and mean not to judge anybody’s else experiences at all. To me, having the need to do something in order to feel OK, and feeling not-OK if I don’t have that – be it cigarettes, coca cola, cocaine or Twitter – shows an addictive behaviour. I just could not stop, which gave me another hint. I had developed RSI from abusing computer and even feeling pain, I’d not stop. Interesting to notice that I only realised how serious it was for me when I tried to stop and felt withdrawal symptoms – I’d form tweets and 140-characters thoughts in my head and feel “I had to” use twitter. I’d notice my hands shaking. I found myself typing http://www.twitter.com, I could not rest still. It consumed my energy. I was emotionally addicted to it, and I don’t think being emotionally addicted is any less harmful than being physically addicted. It may be more socially acceptable, and I may have caused less harm to others, but to me, it was draining, it wasn’t doing me a great service. I feel so much happier now, it is like being free. Again, this all in my own experience, and addiction does run in my family blood.

             
          • Solana Larsen

            I think you’re so cool for sharing your experience and encouraging others to consider their own use (or abuse!)

             
  • Pingback: #occupythyself

    […] Read it at Global Voices Online. […]

  • Pauline Ratzé

    Great post my dear !

  • Eric

    Thanks for linking to my photo!
    Good piece. I wrote a similar post (no longer online) about my experimentation with abandoning everything digital for a short period. It was a good experience, and I permanently left Facebook as a consequence. But I’m still pretty heavy on Twitter and Reddit, though only as time permits.

Cancel this reply

Join the conversation -> Mohamed ElGohary

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.