Breaking free from the social media bondage

Social media has become part of our lives. Even students have not been left behind in the social media craze. Social media is helping people get connected not only through getting live updates of what is going in Tanzania and the world over but, essentially, get people connected with friends, relatives and acquaintances.

As the term itself connotes, the Internet based media has redefined users’ social milieu enabling them to stay in touch and to relate to people they have not met for years-talk of bridging space and time.

There are reports of addiction. Of people not being able to survive, socially speaking at least, without “getting connected.” And in fact some people currently cannot even imagine of what life would be without their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or WhatsApp.

But what if you decided to withdraw from social media? Can you really survive without being “connected”? A US based Blogger and motivational speaker Sarita King shares her experience of living without social media as she recounted it to the http://www.lifehack.org blog.

1. You miss it for a few weeks and then you move on

Yes, you will feel withdrawals; you will experience separation anxiety; you will feel out of place; and you will get over it. Like any breakup, it hurts, you miss it, but you move on. The great thing about this breakup is that you have the upper-hand because you ended the relationship. Sure, Facebook will send you a million e-mails telling you to rethink the relationship, and then in a moment of bitterness it will coldly remind you that your account will be closed forever if you don’t log in within a certain period of time; and maybe you will feel compelled to go back. But don’t. Going back with an ex after a breakup is never a good idea anyway.

2. You feel proud and excited of the newly found free time

What will you do with all this extra time on your hands? Oh, the possibilities are endless. You can actually pick up the phone, call friends and “catch-up” like the world has done for thousands of years; through verbal communication. You can read a book and not someone else’s thoughts on it. You can wake up in the middle of the night and actually count sheep instead of obsessively refreshing your screen to see if anyone commented on your new profile picture. You will learn that the sky is the limit for your newly found free time.

3. You learn that the problem with your lack of time is not social media

I don’t know how to put this kindly so I will just put it: it’s not the social media – it’s you. You don’t have time to do anything; you haven’t studied for finals, worked on your end-of-year report; written that book you’ve though about writing for the past five years; and you certainly haven’t had the time to sit quietly and be thankful for your blessings.

The lack of drive for actually accomplishing what you want to do is the reason for your lack of time, not the amount of time spent on social media. The truth is that if you are busy living life to the fullest, you will know when it is time to shutdown the computer or the phone and focus on what matters without “disconnecting” yourself for good.

4. You never over-share ever again

After being “disconnected” for a while, plugging yourself back into the social media world can come as a shock. All of the sudden pictures that you may have been OK posting in the past seem too much for the world to see. The love and hate confessions that you once felt compelled to share with the world are definitely not something that you ever want to recreate again. You come back and are shocked to see how little vulnerability is worth these days. Somehow, during your “disconnection” time, you become wiser. You now know there is no need to over-share, you can just simply “share.”

5. You incorporate the word balance into your life

Extremes are never good. Sometimes our society tends to be an all-or-nothing kind of place and the thought of balance may feel like an uphill battle.

Disconnecting yourself from social media will teach you that the most fulfilling life is not one that shuts off the world or one that over-shares everything with the world. Instead, it is one where you are free to be yourself, think your thoughts, and know when to say “that’s enough for today.”

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