Life Without Social Media

‘I get better sleep’: the people who quit social media

Soo Youn is considering giving up the apps. She speaks to those who have already taken the plunge – with liberating results

This piece from the Guardian has been sat in my to-blog list for a while. It’s fascinating not so much for the positive effects of walking away from social media — most of which I already know of from personal experience — as the reactions of others.

I’m deliberately quoting just these parts, because I find them insightful and uplifting. The article also contains quotes of some of the negative effects of social media that people experienced before walking away, so if you want to read the original article, consider yourselves duly warned.

Morgan Richardson, 30, nurse in a Covid unit in Los Angeles. Has no social media.

Man, the stories I could tell you of being a young woman with no social media. People get crazy, they get so mad at me!

I have a partner, but when I was dating, people thought I was a catfish because I don’t have social media. I’m fairly good-looking and people would think: “She’s lying, she just has secret accounts that she uses to stalk people with, she is self-absorbed.” No, I just don’t have social media. They don’t even ask me why.

Brian Markowski, 39, cybersecurity expert and host of the Sovryn Tech podcast in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Gave up all social media.

[…]

When I would talk to people in real life, a lot of them would be saying: “Hey, did you see what this person said on Twitter?” or “Did you see what this person said on Facebook?” It was really shocking, because the online life ultimately means nothing. I could ask them: “Do you remember what you tweeted five minutes ago?” Nobody could remember.

Aden Capps, 21, English major at the University of California, Berkeley. Went from an iPhone 6 to a flip phone.

[…]

I’m not currently dating, but I have had relationships while using a flip phone. If anything, it’s been a positive thing.

[…]

Dating offline now is as challenging as it was for my dad. That’s how I think of it. But I feel like it’s just the right way to do it. It just rings truer.

I think people are kind of taken back sometimes [being approached in person] because it is an older way of doing it, but I think it’s sincere enough. It’s just a natural thing. Maybe it’s a good thing, being approached by someone who’s talking to you with their face right in front of you.