As An Aquarian Exhibition launches, so do our monthly themes. Beginning with June's theme of The Digital Age. The beginning of this post is the origin of our first theme. Written in 2017, when I began to truly distance myself from social media. To track my thoughts over the past year, take a read through the whole piece:
This piece is an unpublished piece from our publication previously known as Cinnamon Honey.
A few weeks ago I took a break from social media, I deactivated my Facebook account forever and deleted the Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, Pinterest and YouTube apps from my phone.
When I sent a Snapchat to the people that I have streaks with, I have mixed responses, "Wow! That's so brave!", "Nooo, what about our streak?" and that was the comment that really sent me off my phone.
We seek for validation through the numbers and emojis next to a contact name on Snapchat, the number of likes and followers on Instagram, of views on YouTube. So how do we learn to stop? In saying this, social media is still amazing once we learn how to use it correctly.
So, what did I learn from taking a week away?
Positives
- Freedom. I physically could not scroll through Instagram as I had deleted the app, this meant that I had to do other things in my spare time.
- Broadening my mind. I read books and spent more time with the people that I love, and I mean real time without screens. I created collages and used my camera more. I rode my motorbike around and went to cafes, I was actually doing things!
- No room for miscommunication. In the many years that I have had social media, I have had countless arguments with people due to miscommunication, though we now have the chance to show our emotions through emojis, there is still so much room for people to misinterpret your intentions via texts, so without texting there was no room for miscommunication
Negatives
- I found it a little harder to be inspired. This could be positive as I was working my brain harder, but without being able to scroll through Pinterest I found a lack of creative inspiration.
- I couldn't post my photos or thoughts. Social media is my creative outlet, I post my thoughts on my blog, my photographs on my Instagram and my short films and videos on my YouTube. Deleting social media meant that I could not share my creativity with others.
Over the past year or so, I have used an app, Moment. This app was spoken about on a YouTube video of mine in the past, but if you are unfamiliar with the app, it measures the time that you spend on your phone. Below is a comparison of my time on my phone with and without social media.
I was a little disappointed when I checked how much time I was spending on my phone without social media as I thought it would have been much less than it was. This time was spent on phone calls and my camera roll so I guess it isn't too bad. When I look at the usage when I am traveling overseas on long flights, the usage is always less than an hour so it's clear that the issue is not with social media, rather than with the internet itself.
I enjoyed my time without social media and I think it is important to take a break from it and have a reality check, but I also think that social media is a great privilege to have access to.
The Present
A year later, I never returned to Snapchat or Twitter but created a new Facebook account. I was active on YouTube for a little while, but was quickly tired of my content. I downloaded Instagram again and begun to upload memories that I was grateful for, rather than simple aesthetics (of course there's nothing wrong with the latter, but I don't find as much pleasure in it).
Now, I no longer need my phone when I leave the house to have a coffee with my family or friends. I no longer feel anxious at the sight of a red battery icon or low power notification. I no longer scroll unconciously through Instagram, but I utilise it as a wonderful tool that can help achieve great things. Take AAE for example, we would not run the way that we do, with the great team that we have, without social media. It's ultimately about finding balance. Using an app to track your phone time is interesting and provides new information, but I started to become obsessed with making sure the timer never hit an hour. It fueled a fear of social media, but technology in general.
It still upsets me to see influencers with huge followings promoting unhealthy messages to their audiences, typically made up of children. We have freedom of speech and endless creative opportunities in the digital age, and it's important to continue to explore and push for change!
Here's to the beginning of our theme, The Digital Age! Stay tuned to see what our writers come up with!
The Present
A year later, I never returned to Snapchat or Twitter but created a new Facebook account. I was active on YouTube for a little while, but was quickly tired of my content. I downloaded Instagram again and begun to upload memories that I was grateful for, rather than simple aesthetics (of course there's nothing wrong with the latter, but I don't find as much pleasure in it).
Now, I no longer need my phone when I leave the house to have a coffee with my family or friends. I no longer feel anxious at the sight of a red battery icon or low power notification. I no longer scroll unconciously through Instagram, but I utilise it as a wonderful tool that can help achieve great things. Take AAE for example, we would not run the way that we do, with the great team that we have, without social media. It's ultimately about finding balance. Using an app to track your phone time is interesting and provides new information, but I started to become obsessed with making sure the timer never hit an hour. It fueled a fear of social media, but technology in general.
It still upsets me to see influencers with huge followings promoting unhealthy messages to their audiences, typically made up of children. We have freedom of speech and endless creative opportunities in the digital age, and it's important to continue to explore and push for change!
Here's to the beginning of our theme, The Digital Age! Stay tuned to see what our writers come up with!
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