One Month Without Social Media

A month ago, I wrote this post about why I deleted my Instagram account. One month on, and I want to talk about what’s changed – if anything – since then.

(Something to note is a few days after deleting my Instagram account I also deactivated my Facebook account. These were the two social media platforms I had been using.)

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So, has anything changed after a month? I believe so.

I feel happier, more at peace. This could be attributed to changing life circumstances, but I do think some credit can go to less intake of ‘perfect lives’ on Instagram. When I woke up, the first thing I used to do was scroll through Instagram and subconsciously compare myself to what I saw. In my previous post I discussed being comfortable with the path I’m on, and whilst that’s true, social media was putting unnecessary pressure on my confidence.

My relationship with God has also grown in the past month, and I can see this specifically in one area of my life. Perhaps social media hasn’t directly caused this, but I believe that by deleting it, I have had more space to listen to myself, and God, which has opened me to His loving discipline.

So no, there isn’t any ‘obvious proof’ of how this experience has changed my life, but I do think – directly or indirectly – there has been an impact.

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The main reason I did this was to stop reaching for a distraction.

I wanted to sit with my thoughts and pay attention to myself and to who I am without my phone. I wanted to see if I hated not ‘being in the loop’ (spoiler: I do). I wanted to see what parts of my life I was ignoring by being caught up in the filtered reality of social media. I wanted more space for God and less room for zoning out.

Remember this? For me, deleting social media was – and continues to be – a way of learning from something uncomfortable.

As an end note, please know that I am not telling you what to do. I’m also not saying social media is bad, or wrong. This post is simply my own experience.

Sarah xx

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The following three videos were motivating for me when I first deleted social media. They were educational, entertaining, and inspiring.

I quit social media for 4 months. – Nathan Zed

What I learned from my social media fast / Amber Quinney / TEDxYouth@Buffalo – TEDx Talks

You Will Wish You Watched This Before You Started Using Social Media / The Twisted Truth – Absolute Motivation