I gave up social media
I know you read the heading and you were probably surprised, "What? A teenager in the 21st century giving up social media? Why?".
Well, I created this column to explain why I did it and to walk you a bit through the process.
I started this little "experiment" on the 7th of May 2020. And put an end to it on the 21st of September. 4 months with no social media and no real connection with the outside world.
Before making this decision I was on my phone 12 hours a day. It is a lot, I know. I used to spend hours and hours on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. I just really felt like I was wasting my time so I decided to make a change.
I disabled all my accounts and deleted the apps off my phone. And because I know myself and I can't resist temptation, I got a flip phone.
I have been wanting to get a flip phone for the longest time because I honestly think they're really cool. So I took advantage of the situation and a week after giving up on socials I got my own flip phone. I mostly used the WhatsApp app on it to keep in contact with my closest friends. But that's about it.
When I moved back to Cluj after the lockdown I realised I had to change back to my smartphone. I live alone and I need a lot of apps in order to be able to live without my parents. For example, I realised I needed the app BT24 in order to get money from my parents, the Uber app in order to get around the city, foodpanda to be able to order food and many other apps that make living by yourself easier.
In conclusion, this little experiment was very intersting and very fun actually and I will be doing it again next summer. I think taking a break every once in a while is very good and I recommend it to everyone. Now, I'm back to using my smartphone but I only use instagram, I completly gave up on Snapchat and TikTok.