Social Media Diet

Well hello there!

I abandoned my little blog for a while, but I'm attempting to get back into a blogging grove.

Our little lives have turned upside down lately, and I want to look back and remember what we were doing/thinking/feeling.  Also my family and some of my friends like to see pictures from time to time,  so blogging can be a good avenue for doing that.  Social media is MUCH easier, however I've decided I need to go on a bit of a social media diet, so back to blogging it is.

What's a social media diet?  I'm not really sure yet, but I think I've got my boundaries somewhat laid out.  I thought about quitting Facebook altogether, or giving it up for lent, but I'm not into grand gestures.  Also, I don't have anything against social media.  I love it!  It's so much fun to see what my friends from different seasons of my life are up to, and to participate in some good natured banter every now and then.  It's become the primary medium for communications and event planning in some cases.  I don't have any desire to go that far off the grid. However, the bad is outweighing the good for me right now, so I'm forcing myself to cut back quite a bit.  Here's why:

For me, it's addictive

Some of you aren't nutty like me and need to put in boundaries for things like this.  I have an addictive personality; particularly when it comes to the need to respond.  When I was working full time I had to this problem.  I had to turn off notifications on my email because I just could not resist the urge to respond immediately.  And you know what?  When I did that I was more productive.  I have a hunch that putting similar measures in place for FB notifications will have a similar effect.  If I have notifications popping up on my little Facebook app icon I CANNOT RESIST.  It's got to be like  some sort of dopamine drip.  I don't need that in my life.  

Too much information

"Why all people who do not vaccinate their children must die," "Why you should have sex with you husband every night," "10 reasons why Olivia Pope is the bomb," "How Babywise ruined my child,"  and for the love of God, "WHY YOU ARE INSTALLING YOUR CAR SEAT ALL WRONG."  Do people not realize that there is an article out there that will justify just about any opinion you may have on ANYTHING?  While it's everyone's ever-lovin' right to post whatever the heck they want, I don't need/want to see all that. I'll just stick to Newsify where my blogs/new sites of choice pop up and enjoy reading them from there.  I don't want to get my panties all in a wad because of an outlandish articles a friend posted.  Which brings me to my next reason....

I want to still like my friends

Ever have a Facebook friend that annoyed you to no end online, but was perfectly pleasant to be around in real life?  Yea me too.  Heck, I may even be that person to some people...I'm not kidding myself.  I'm tired of wasting my energy being annoyed at the personas people wear on social media.  Yes, I've tried to filter, but it only helps so much.  So I'm done with giving my attention to just about everything on my newsfeed and will stick with the highlights.  Hopefully skimming the most popular posts a few times week will help me keep a positive feeling toward my friends.

I want to be more productive

Productivity is a core value for me, and right now social media is slowing me down.  It's embarrassing, and I'm giving myself and intervention.  I complain sometimes about not finding the time to read.  I wonder how many minutes of last week I spend mindlessly on social media?  Probably enough to finish one of the 15 unread books on my Kindle.  And don't get me wrong, I think everyone needs a little mindless task once in a while and FB and Instagram might be just the thing that gives you a little happy while you pass the time in line at the grocery store.  But for me it's not.  I don't usually feel like I've accomplished anything after spending 10 minutes looking through my newsfeed and I don't like that feeling. In fact, sometimes I feel down right icky.

I want to be more present for my kids

I know.  It almost makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit when I see what I've written.  I'm not here to shame the stay-at-home-mom who just wants a little adult interaction at some point during her 15 hour day of diaper changing, potty training, playground hopping, meal cooking, kitchen cleaning, and toddler talking.  Candy Crush on dear mama.  For me though I've noticed that my kids are now noticing that I'm not paying close attention to them sometimes at the playground or sitting around in our living room.  Yes, not everything they have to say is earth shattering, however I could be missing some neat memories or teachable moments.  And honestly, I'd be more fulfilled be a part of that rather than reading about "The 21 80s toys you just could not live without."

I want to set a certain example for my kids

Distracted, irritable, and angry....those are probably the top adjectives that describe me after I've spent too much time on Facebook.  Isn't that awful?  I may have a problem.  If those are the vibes I'm putting out, you better believe the little people will pick up on it.  Additionally, I want my kiddos to be confident and be able to carry on in-person conversations.  I want my son (when the time comes) to ask a girl out on a date IN PERSON.  Isn't it nuts that we have to be intentional about this stuff as parents? But if I'm going to teach it, I have to walk it.

I want real, meaningful relationships

Yes, it's great to be able to connect with high school friends and your 6th grade piano teacher on social media.  However, lately I've come to the conclusion that although our society (and world for that matter) is more connected than ever, I don't think it's reaching to say that we are also more isolated as ever.  It's so easy to post, troll, comment, and "like" online, but it takes more of an investment to have a real relationship.  Now that I've moved across the country, it's more important that ever to make and nourish relationships.



There.  It's out of my system.  This post was not meant to dog on social media or to chide people that spend a significant amount of time using it.  I suppose it was two-fold 1) to help out anyone else who may need a social media diet like I do and 2) To let family, friends and fans (so just kidding) to check the blog for pictures and tales of our adventures in Colorado.