Social Media Hiatus

When people talk about taking a break from social media, it’s usually because of something negative. For example, I know people who didn’t log into social media platforms during the election. The hate and discontent was just too much. I also know a lot of people who have given up Facebook for Lent – the same way people give up chocolate or alcohol. I have done No-Screen Sundays, but I have never tried to give it up for 30 whole days. Truth-be-told, I don’t know that I will be successful in my attempt to unplug for a whole month. However, I plan to give it a shot.

Some Social Media Thoughts…

I love social media, and when I say that I love it, I mean I really love it. I have friends with varying political and social viewpoints, and I welcome their thoughts and posts. I have friends who are funny and interesting, and I love seeing their posts. (My siblings are hilarious.) I have entrepreneur friends who use social media to grow and expand their business offerings, and I get so excited to see their posts about their business’ growth. I have inspiring friends who inadvertently get me off the couch, who push me to try new things, and who remind me that I am doing ok in this thing called life. (They don’t even know they are doing it, but they are.) There is so much good stuff on social media, and I have a lot cool friends who share a lot of cool stuff on it. I enjoy scrolling and learning about people on the various platforms. (Facebook and Instagram are my 2 favorite social media sites, but this blog post focuses primarily on Facebook.)

Facebook in Okinawa

Facebook is the method of communication that everything revolves around here on Okinawa. Want to find a new cafe, go to Okinawa Cafe Journal. It will show you where to go. Want to buy or sell something on this island, Okinawa Yard Sales is the first place I go. Want to find out where the fish are biting, Fishing Okinawa shows where and what is biting and what they are biting. Want to go explore Okinawa on foot, go check out Hike Okinawa; you will find pins to amazing places to explore. Want to know about volunteer opportunities, job opportunities, friend-making opportunities, there are groups for all of these things on Facebook. Facebook is also where the military and their families find posts about what we are allowed and not allowed to do because of the pandemic. It’s also where you find out what the Marines are doing to ensure peace and stability in this region. When I say that everything going on in Okinawa is on Facebook, I mean EVERYTHING!

Social Media and Family

My siblings, cousins, and people who are like my family share things on social media, and I love seeing how they spend their time. For me, it allows me to feel like I know what’s going on in their lives even though they are over 6,000 miles away. It makes me feel some semblance of a connection, even when I haven’t seen them in a year and a half. It makes me feel like I will know who they are and who they have become when I get to resume day-to-day life with them again (whenever that will be). It’s the day-to-day activities that make up a life, and I love seeing what my family’s day-to-day activities look like, because let’s be honest, they aren’t sharing pictures with me on the daily via WhatsApp, so I head over to their social media pages to take a sneak peek into their lives.

So Why Take a Break from It?

I don’t have television. We don’t really watch shows. I don’t have Netflix, Hulu, or any other streaming capabilities. Most of my entertainment comes from social media, and because I follow interesting people, I am entertained, I learn, and I don’t miss tv, but much like people who become addicted to tv, I find that I am spending more and more time on devices. The more time I spend on devices, the less time I am spending in conversation, reading books, journaling, meditating, moving my body, and even sleeping. As much as I love those things that are good for me, I find myself being drawn back to the device and wasting time scrolling or crafting posts, or wondering if anyone is judging what I am posting. (The judgement topic is one for the journal and someday for the blog.)

The Social Media Break…

So for the month of July, I am going to spend more time doing some of those other things that I enjoy doing, and I will see how it feels to take a little social media break. If it feels good and freeing, then maybe I will pull back from so much time on social. If it feels boring and isolating, I will come back and do what I have been doing. Either way, I will share my thoughts about my 30 day social media break in August. In the meantime, I will continue to blog and will share what I am doing here on Mondays, so if you have any interest in what’s going on in my simple, peaceful life, here on Okinawa, be sure and subscribe so you get the notification that I posted my blog because I am not promoting it on social media next month.

Happy Reading and Happy Scrolling. If social media is something you enjoy, continue to do it. I’ll probably be back soon!