I thought I would miss it more. I don’t really. There are occasional things I wish to share but I realize I never would have done so before social media and I thought about whether it actually would be beneficial to anyone else. The end result is that most of what I would share is occasionally funny but mostly bleh. I’m of an age where I don’t really need a constant validation of my life choices.
I miss interacting with friends that live elsewhere and social media does allow us to connect on our own time. I don’t have to worry about interrupting them at work or in the kitchen or on the loo. I miss the convenience of Facebook Events. I miss some of the wit and witticism I got from Twitter but not the anger, hostility, and vitriol that infests the medium.
App update for the phone. I deleted 5 apps that came with the phone and I never used. I added back Kindle to finish reading a book. iOS 12 has a feature that allows unused apps to be offloaded from the phone to free up space. I haven’t used it yet. Space isn’t an issue and I still have a few apps that came preloaded I haven’t gotten around to trying yet. If you have had your phone awhile and want to reduce the screen clutter it might be interesting to turn the feature on and see what happens. Both Screen time and phone pick ups have decreased as each week has progressed. I still find myself, somewhat unconsciously, picking up the phone and looking at the screen like I need to do something but there is nothing specific to be doing on it. I have hit on a solution to this problem – Yard Work. Actually, that only is an option a few hours out of the day and not even every day. So, driving a car, reading physical books, cooking from scratch, and putting the phone elsewhere while working or watching football are all valid options to break this habit.
The most valuable lesson I have gotten so far is how much time is wasted on it. If it were like reading the news paper of old where you were done in 10-20 minutes and were caught up on the news and could put it down and forget about it till the next day then the time/value proposition is high. It is the current state of hours a day or all day for some people that consumes their most productive time and limits their potential that grates upon my sense of what is good for us as individuals and for our society. I think collectively, we are lonely and disconnected on an emotional level from those around us. It is hard to find a friend and be willing to be vulnerable with that person; because that is what is required of a strong friendship. The ability to vulnerable and know that it won’t be used to harm you is a key hallmark of a friend. Work on your friendships not your perfect selfie.