We live in a technological driven society that has found its solace in people using social media platforms for various things. Platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter) are used by people to share all aspects about their life such as their relationships, what country they’re travelling to next, the best latte recipe in town, and how to change the oil in a car. While social media has shown to be a connecting medium for people around the world for things such as building friendships and advocating for change it does have a dark side, a dark side that nobody seems to want to discuss. From what I have seen, social media has transformed itself from something harmless to extremely harmful in a matter of a few years. This is what eventually led to me deleting my Snapchat and deactivating my Instagram account in October of 2023 and I’ve never looked back since. My mental health has improved drastically since this change and my social life has been getting better. In this post, I’ll explain what led to my decision and how this may be a potential benefit for you too.
I had first gotten Instagram back when I was in grade 8 when it was just a platform for posting pictures. This was mid-2015 and social media was starting to become mainstream in society. I then got Snapchat in my second semester of grade 9 and those were my two main social media mediums until I called it quits. Instagram was my source for news, culture, and what my friends and general people that I knew such as classmates were doing with their life. Snapchat was also like this but I didn’t use it nearly as much as Instagram for the stated purposes. From what I can remember, both of these mediums weren’t as toxic as they became in 2020 and I was also a huge supporter of social media during this time. The change in perspective occurred during the COVID-19 Pandemic as people were stuck indoors all day with nothing to do. There became an apparent increase in social media usage for better and for worse. This was also around the time when TikTok became popular and would see the culture surrounding it slowly seep into other social media platforms over the next few years. To say that this period of social media had a negative impact would be doing a disservice, it was literally the worst thing in the world and it had a major toll on all aspects of my life. My mental health deteriorated, my social life was in shambles, i didn’t feel good opening any of the apps anymore, and this was all because of the toxic garbage that was piling up and spewing into the mediums. Hateful comments, posts, and negative energy were filled in these sites during the height of the pandemic. When COVID-19 began to die down, I thought that these social media platforms would return to what they once were but that wasn’t the case. They somehow got even worse with all the physical and social changes that were made to them. Instagram and Snapchat were staring to look more like TikTok, they focused more on short videos and the culture of the popular app was already present within the mediums that I was so frequently using. This was a culture embedded in trashy trends and and toxic opinions of all sorts such as those involved with politics and social implications and I had reached my breaking point. On one particular day while taking the bus to my university campus I got the sudden urge to get rid of my social media forever and that’s what I did. I deleted my Snapchat and deactivated my Instagram and I’ve never looked back. It has been a blessing on my life.
The deletion social media can be a major benefit for you. I strongly urge anyone using these platforms that are feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed to take the initiative and get rid of them, even if its just a temporary thing. For anyone that wants to try this out, I recommend deactivating your social media apps for a month and if you start to feel better and see that you can live without it, then delete it. We are so tied down to these virtual realities that mean absolutely nothing and we waste so much time in them scrolling through absolute garbage and feeding the toxicity that these platforms have turned into. The sense of freedom you gain and empowerment you feel is beyond extraordinary and you begin to spend your time on things that actually matter such as family, friends, hobbies, fitness, and just life in general.
(I am aware that this piece could potentially be invalidated as I have social media links on the website, but those are for business and networking and not for personal use).