Pulling Off the Plug on Facebook

The title says it all. For the past couple of months, I have this unexplained urge to just quit all my social media. The tricky part is it has been so embedded into my life and I am so used to it. Being a part time blogger it makes it harder for me to quit as it is also my source of passive income. Before, I share with you on what I decided to do. Maybe I should share with you on why I am really tempted to do so.

Like many others, I spent lots of my waking time consuming from the net. To be fair, internet is like a big library and we should be using it like a library. Come to it when we need specific data or inspiration and then leave. The thing about it, internet is so easily assessable that some of us do not ever leave. As for me, I spend more time than I should, scrolling and scrolling.

I come across this video on self-improvement and bump into this guy name Jim Kwik. He said something that really punch me on the face. He said the moment we grab our phone the first thing in the morning, we start giving away our consciousness. He also said something very smart, “If you win the First Hour, You Win the whole DAY”. I wanted to win my whole day. I understand there are ups and down in life but I wanted to have more good days that the bad. I think being on social media do not contribute to my goal.

Another video that I think worth sharing is by co-founder of FB and another pioneer FB guy. He clearly mentioned that FB is designed to be addictive and to used human vulnerability for specific reasons. They want us to be glued to our phone. They want us to provide as much data so they designed the whole system to mimic dopamine. Every time we create content (update status, nice pictures, videos etc) we crave for attention and likes and responses. The more we get it, the more it encourages us to create even more content. That is just how it works. It is an addiction. A vicious cycle. We spend our valuable time (that we can’t get back anyhow) creating content and responding to other’s content. For what? Like seriously for what?

Within the last couple of years it have changed the way I live. Then, when I saw the video BAMMM it is not just me. It is affecting how society works. People interact differently nowadays. I have seen kids glued to screen when they should have been running around and having fun. My husband and I are very strict about screen time for our children as it is just a protective instint.We can feel that whenever we gave screen exposure to our kids they tend to act differently. Short-tempered and very cranky. We also observed those who spend lots of money to fix speech delay issues and it turn out most of them have the same pattern of excessive screen time from young age.

I also come across couple of TedTalk video on people leaving the internet for a year, those who decided to just jump out of it and what kind of changes they experienced. It got me really interested. I wanted to feel better and I do resonate all the points they given.

Jason Kwik also mentioned that some of us felt depressed because we have been spending most of our time comparing our daily lives with other people’s highlight. I mean that’s it. Facebook, instagram and on the rest of social media is filled with people’s highlight. I am guilty of this too. I have to be honest, there are times I felt hesitate if I should upload what I eat today as I am scared that it would make others feel bad because they can’t afford to have at that time maybe due to medical condition or due to geographical factors. From a simple intention of I just want to celebrate something I eat and I love it because it makes me feel happy and taste yummy,, it escalated to the feeling of social responsibility, I want people to feel happy and I don’t want to hurt others.

I also think that like many other invention, it supposed to be good if we use it correctly. I have to admit, I learned quite a lot from internet. I get more understanding about topics that I wanted, easy access and I love that. But do I really need to watch funny videos for 4 hours at night when the time should be utilized by my body sleeping and just relaxing?

On Feb 2, 2018 is the day I decided to uninstall facebook from my handphone. It is a small step. I know. I still have my instagram and page manager for facebook access since I need it for my blogging work. After uninstall the fb app, I felt relief. I felt free. I feel happier. My main source of energy sucker is mellowed down. Sound silly? Maybe, but I like it. In this couple of days I realised that I don’t have the urge to keep scrolling my timeline as before. I don’t feel suffocated and drowned with information.

Small start, for Facebook detox. However, I just want to jot this down and maybe reflect back in the future. Will I leave facebook for good? I don’t know, totally considering though. Alright. That’s all I have to say this round. Till next blogpost. Don’t forget to take it easy and smile.

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