Status Updates

Could you go five days without social media? If you did, would you experience serene bliss or develop a stress ulcer? Here is a fun challenge — take a week off; tell me how it goes?

Here is an insight on a millennial’s week without social media.

Day 1: You cannot capture every moment: I went out for lunch with three of my friends. All three of them took their phone out to take a video of the amazing food we were about to devour. Had I not just deleted all possible modes of letting the world know that Ahmedabad also has a fantastic sushi place, I would probably be busy taking that picture, too. Come on, ya! My friends in New York need to know how cool my life in Ahmedabad is! Takeaway? So many times we miss a moment because we were busy capturing it for Instagram or Facebook. Some of the most precious moments in our life cannot be captured. Just rehashing Guruji’s teachings on being mindful of every moment.

Day 2: BL level-not a pro: I have been off Instagram for a while now, but then Facebook began to replace the void. After deleting both accounts, I do not know what to do with my phone besides stare at my dog’s cute pictures. It has been over a year since I have started meditating, and according to the Black Lotus app, I should be a pro soon. Here, I am beginning to realise that I have not even crossed the aspirant level when it comes to just sitting silently with my thoughts.

Day 3: Two Insta handles. Nah! Two posts this time: For some reason, I had two Instagram handles. The logic behind that? 1) To post pictures of how amazing my life is; and 2) to post pictures of how amazing my life is. Progressing from day 2 to 3, I decided to stop looking at my dog’s pictures and open os.me a lot more. Guys! I am pretty caught up on your posts this week. Reading posts on os.me before bed instead of aimlessly scrolling Instagram is so gratifying. If I am cool enough to have two Instagram handles, does writing two posts this week make me cooler?

Day 4: PS I love you, but I do not remember your birthday: I did not wish my best friend this year. I had forgotten the date! So there were no ‘I love you’ stories on Instagram or Facebook.  A side note to that cute boy I met at a cafe in NY; PS. I do not love you, but it is more important for my brain to remember that shiny top I had worn on that first date with you over my best friend’s birthday. Takeaway? Maybe I should send out personalised birthday letters instead of posting birthday stories this year? (More importantly I need to add the birthdays to Google calendar).

Day 5: How do I stalk that cute boy?:  When a girl reaches a marriageable age, somehow her family and distant relatives manage to send her more profiles than the number of followers on her Instagram (Ughh… I have lost count). After receiving one such profile, I was tempted to look this guy up on Facebook. Should I cheat? Truth be told, I could have just stalked him via mom’s social media (almost did). However, then I thought, let’s keep it interesting! Not sure if there is a takeaway here besides adding some harmless drama to my life.

Day 6: Limiting serendipitous connections: I am on day 6, and it has been an exciting week already. Today more than ever, I miss my apps. Let me tell you why. I  re-connected with an old friend thanks to Instagram. I have made a bunch of serendipitous connections via social media. When I shared this post with him, he said, “So we are limiting new serendipitous connections?” This made me think if I want to stop using social media altogether.

For what it’s worth, it was a fun experiment. Everything has become digitised; we need to take note of our daily screen time. We go from an 8-12hr workday to watching some show on Netflix or e-reading to unwind. I will not categorise my week as life-changing or particularly difficult. However, I will say I was a lot more mindful about my day without 500 pointless notifications. A week without social media and status updates has done good to me, so I will lay low for a while. Bets on how long?