Social media is the new cancer
You all do it, you all scroll on Instagram way longer than is required to make Mark Zuckerberg rich. I say “You” because I stopped using Instagram in January this year. I’m taking exams in May and its not serving me, its not helping me pass my exams, so I stopped. I simply deleted the app and haven’t looked back. As the kids say “its not that deep.”
But social media is the new cancer, we all go and compare ourselves to other people who for 15 seconds look happy and together and we forget the hours/years of work that went into putting a shoot of your 6 person family all dancing to a routine in matching PJ’s. (I’m just thinking about getting all those PJs washed in synchronised manner, when I’m a full adult who barely manages to wear matching socks (I legit had to buy about 14 pairs of socks at the same height so I wear matching ones???) It keeps us numb and biddable, because we’re too busy thinking about someone else’s’ business to worry about the deficiencies in our own life.
I first detoxed from Facebook in 2017. My ex husband had a bitterness towards a few of his cousins (1 sided, these were perfectly lovely people) and was angry that we weren’t living the same “Instagram able” life that they were whilst doing up a house. I felt under pressure as I was the main earner and I couldn’t compete with the cousin who’d married a banker and had a really good job in her own right, or the other cousin who had married a deputy head and had a really good job in her own right, the truth was that I had a good job, but I couldn’t provide the same lifestyle they lived because in each case, both people earnt well. It was making me bitter against perfectly nice and kind people. I felt like if I couldn’t be joyful at their success, then I needed to remove myself from the situation and work on myself until I could in fact be happy for them. So I did. And as a result it feels like 2017 was the year that Facebook had a major upgrade, because after being off it for over a year, I could never really get back on the horse, I felt (feel) behind the curve.
The next reason I dislike social media is that we normally consume it from our homes, which means no exercise and we in the UK are facing an obesity crisis. We need people to be out in the streets taking walks, runs and cycling. Not sitting on your fat ass scrolling.
Next we have the fact that we know (tacitly) that this thing causes depression, anxiety and has led to suicides. We all know someone who’s mental health could benefit from a digital detox. So why do we keep posting/scrolling?
I have a friend who when her child was born she posted daily pictures of him on Facebook, which was cute because he’s an adorable little boy who I love deeply. However she spoke of the “Pressure” she felt to post a picture of the cutie daily in new outfits. Why? Who is pressuring you? In real life no one would ask you to send daily pictures of your new-born. Its weird.
Finally I say this as a science enthusiast. We haven’t done the 40 year trials. I was 16 when Facebook became a thing, I remember being outside a music lesson and people were talking about the various platforms we had back then (showing my ages, so google this stuff) Myspace, Beebo and MSN (I only had MSN) and I’m 30 now, which means Facebook has been in my consciousness for 14 years, almost half my life. However, 14 years ain’t 40 years and if this thing is as bad as smoking then the true effects of the problem won’t be felt for another 25 years. We need to be careful what we consume, what we feed our minds.
So please next time you want to scroll Instagram, youtube tiktok etc… please….just don’t. Go outside, go have a present conversation with a loved one. Do something kind for someone. Anything that will truly benefit you rather than some faceless corporation almost literally sucking the life out of you. In this modern world that values submission to the social media Gods, such acts will take Grace and Courage.
Grace and Courage.
Annetta Mother Smith