Giving Up Social Media

Giving Up Social Media

The winter-spring transition season is upon us which means Easter is coming up in about a month. For myself and for many people I know this also means we are in the season of Lent. Lent is the span of about 40 days leading up to Easter which some Christians recognize as a time for extra self-reflection and sacrifice. It can serve as a second new year where people sometimes make resolutions to exercise more, do more service, or give up things like video games, candy or even social media.

I’ve seen many of my friends who recognize Lent give up social media entirely for the season of Lent and its always been interesting for me to watch. I have never done it myself because I either didn’t have any social media, I didn’t use it enough where I felt like it was interrupting my life, or I had a reason why I couldn’t give it up (like this class). Last year however, I limited when I could use social media to just at the end of the day when I had already gotten my work done. This was slightly difficult but it actually helped me get on the right track to be a little more productive.

Giving up social media altogether is a completely different story. The thought of being out of the social media loop for so long is an overwhelming thought. Think about all the notifications you can’t answer or how long it would take to go through every single post when you get back on your social media! I know some of my friends who have done it just deleted the apps off their phone. Even I, who would by no means call myself someone who “loves” social media, am stressed out by this thought!

But why do people decide to give up social media in the first place? I know I decided to limit my social media because I felt when I got on it during certain times of day it distracted me from getting work done. For me it wasn’t a distraction enough to give it up altogether though. I think for some people it has turned into a much bigger distraction, taking away from time they could be enjoying peoples’ company and being present in the moment. Social media is such an interesting “place” I think it is fair to say it can become addicting. I could see how social media might become an unhealthy environment for people. There can be a lot of negativity on the internet and negative behaviors associated with social media if you’re not careful. Maybe people give social media a break to separate themselves first before unfollowing the people who fill their feed with negativity or to help show themselves they don’t need it in their lives. Maybe they are someone who focuses too much on posting things which make them look attractive or cool and they’re using their time off to work on self-love. Then, there are the people who give up social media simply because they really enjoy it and they want to make a small sacrifice this Lent. I’ve seen some of my friends really struggle with not being able to know what’s going on or get frustrated because they have a picture they really want to post. This is how all Lenten sacrifices should work. You’re supposed to give up something slightly hard for you to not have or make a resolution hard for you to accomplish so you can remember there are so many bigger sacrifices and more serious battles to fight in the world than simply giving up something like social media.

If you’re celebrating Lent this year, what have you given up or decided to work on? If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d love to know! If you had to give up social media, how do you think you would do? Please comment below!