Un-socialmedia-ing effect
Since I’ve come out of instagram, I kept asking the same question. “Did it help?” Was I doing it just to show it to people that I can, or did it actually help in ways I wanted it to?
When I go back
Even now, It’s not as if I’ve exited instagram fully. I install the app every Saturday to post about the new blog and also to catch up on any new photos my friends and family have posted; and the algorithm works like a charm when you come back after long breaks. As I scroll through my feed, almost every post is of someone I know and a post which I generally look upto. But hardly couple of posts later comes AI slop or random reel to hook me back onto the app. I turn it off.
The app generally stays on my phone for a day or two. Saturday night, as I hit the bed, I get this feeling that I’ve achieved the goal of not using instagram for a week, hence I’m entitled to the reward of using it for one night before I uninstall it again tomorrow. I don’t like that feeling.
Not a reward
As long as I reward myself of social media, it means I look upto it. That isn’t solving the fact that I don’t want to be within the circle of these apps. I plan to move away from that circle, but I subconsciously linger within the borders of that circle for the whole week looking to the point of hopping back in. Am I really pulled that hard back into the circle?
All this happens because I see the potential within, but not without. So, I started looking outside the circle. How did this help?
It helped me with my focus. A Lot.
Fooooocus
That’s a simple sentence, but for a guy who gets distracted very easily, is a strong sentence. I am able to focus on small and large goals quite well. It could be as easy as sleeping early to wake up early, or as hard as working on a dead set goal for eight hours in office. Whichever way I see it, I’ve gained a lot more focus in last couple of months. This also is trickling into me being calm rather than stressing out when things aren’t working out.
Then, what are the drawbacks, Rahul? There definitely should be drawbacks when you move out of all knowing god algorithm showing you the world topics within seconds.
I don’t get news instantly
Am I late?
It could be war or it could be tariffs. I’m at best late by couple of hours, at worst by a day. But, that isn’t a big deal. It was never a big deal to get the news slightly late - just these mega companies made us think it is.
Most of these news don’t affect me in such short span, cause my professional and personal life work in months and years. I am no intraday trader to lose lakhs in monetary value just because I saw the news fifteen minutes late; I’m just a regular 9 to 5 dude. But I do have a good circle of friends who ping me every once in a while talking about breaking news. Guess they are my news reporters.
Glad I’m out
All in all, I haven’t lost much and gained a lot. People who want to reach me out (or I want to reach out to) anyways are connected on WhatsApp - if not, a phone call away. Sending a reel a week to that friend with whom I haven’t spoken to in years anyways didn’t help me to be in contact. A phone call on a random holiday did it much better.