When I was a kid, my parents would go places and I couldn’t even get in touch with them. If I needed them, I couldn’t call or text them. I couldn’t find their location using an app, couldn’t facetime them. I would have to call the store or wherever they were, or I would have to wait for them to come home.
Can you believe that?
I don’t even know how we survived.
Constant accessibility is actually a really modern concept. And good grief, is it exhausting.
It’s no wonder that, so far in 2024, the #38 most googled question is: How do I delete instagram? And number #53: How do I delete my facebook account?
We’re addicted to the likes and the constant notifications, no doubt, but dare I say, we’re getting a little sick of it.
I know I am.
But more than getting sick of it, I think it might be killing us.
According to a study at Yale, social media use in teens literally changes the brain. In 2023, the American Psychological Association issued a health warning advising against the use of social media.
And yet … we just keep on using it. I, myself, am included in this group. I am fully aware of the impact of social media on my own mental health, but I just keep using it.
Why? FOMO. We can’t stand the thought of being left out.
And to make matters worse, even when we’re not staring at our feeds on social media, we’re still CONSTANTLY connected.
This morning, I saw posts about breakfast, laundry, and birthday parties. I saw rants about TRUMP and theories about how BIDEN is a clone. I watched people hurry to church just to sit through the entire thing on their phones.
My own phone has dinged and vibrated at me with notification after notification. And even when I swear I’m not going to look this time, I eventually reach for the phone.
If people want to get in touch with me, they text. And they expect a response within the next few minutes. If I don’t respond, or dare I forget, I’m considered rude. All because I wasn’t constantly available.
The facts about our constant connection are actually quite alarming.
- Americans check their phones, on average, 144 times per day.
- But aside from checking those little dings, we use our phones an average of 4.5 hours per day.
- It’s estimated that more than 5 billion people send and receive text messages, 95% of which are read and responded to within five minutes.
We are slaves to our phones.
Can you imagine being a teenager in today’s world? Being bombarded with the newest trends and being expected to keep up? Having your EVERY move recorded? When I was a teen, I made a TON of stupid mistakes, and I can only thank the heavens that they weren’t caught on the internet. Forever. These poor kids …
Do I expect this to change? Not at all. Although there has been a recent push for the dumb phone – because maybe we really are tired of being constantly connected.
Maybe we really aren’t interested in being available 24/7. Maybe instant gratification isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe we want to breathe without the constant pressure of availability.
MAYBE WE SHOULD DO BETTER FOR THE KIDS. Maybe we should turn it all off and forget the horrible experiment that is social media. We won’t. But maybe we should.
And now, just in case you really want to take the plunge …
If you want to delete Instagram, this is from Instagram itself:
- Click
More in the bottom left, then click Settings
.
- Click Accounts Center, then click Personal details.
- Click Account ownership and control, then click Deactivation or deletion.
- Click the account you’d like to permanently delete.
- Click Delete account, then click Continue.
And to delete Facebook:
- Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
- Select Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.
- If Accounts Center is at the top left of your Settings menu, you can delete your account through Accounts Center. If Accounts Center is at the bottom left of your Settings menu, you can delete your account through your Facebook Settings.
I probably won’t delete my social media just yet, although I do think about it often. I miss the days of answering machines and rotary phones. I miss having to wait for some things. Constant connectivity is exhausting. Social media is slowly killing us from the inside out. Maybe pick up a book and a coffee and a good meal today … and don’t tell the world about it.