Why I Quit Social Media and 6 Things I Do Instead
Social media is a hot topic these days. It is both blamed for the downfall of humanity while at the same time providing life-affirming connections for those who may be otherwise isolated.
My decision to quit social media took a few years and a good amount of personal reflection. For me, I found the toll it took on my mental and emotional health was greater than the benefits I gained from being on it. By no means am I suggesting that you should leave all social media too; only you can decide if that makes sense for you.
However, it is a worthwhile exercise to evaluate your relationship with social media, in the same way that I work with clients to reflect on their relationship with food and body. Start with a few basic questions, like:
What are the benefits of social media for you?
What are the drawbacks of social media for you?
The Social Days of Social Media
I entered the world of social media when I moved from Minneapolis to Eugene, Oregon, in 2008 for a job. A friend convinced me Facebook would be a good way to stay in touch even with the distance. Important note: This was back in the dark days when you only had a certain number of minutes and messages on your cell phone plan and “free calls” didn’t start until after 9 pm. Facebook seemed like an ideal solution to my social separation.
Those were the blissful early days when there were no ads and everything was chronological. You simply scrolled until you got back to the last post you remembered seeing and knew you were caught up on everything and everyone.
Fast forward a few years, and I was smitten with the visually appealing Instagram interface (again, chronological and no ads) and hopped on the Pinterest bandwagon – the recipes! The crafts! The décor!
I continued to be a regular, active social media user for years.
When I started Whole You Nutrition in 2018, one of the most consistent pieces of business advice was to grow my social media following. In the early days of any client-based business, you tend to have more time than clients, so I would spend free hours creating content specifically for Facebook and Instagram so that I could update my feeds multiple times a week. I took pictures of nearly everything I ate and cooked and most exercise or self-care activities I was doing. In the beginning, it was fun.
When Social Media Stopped Being Fun
As my one-on-one nutrition business grew and I created in-person classes and groups, I found the grind of constantly creating social media content less fun. It took a lot of time, and the algorithms felt like a moving target (focus on the feed, wait - now stories are more important, make reels!). I also noticed that even though my social media following was growing, when I asked new clients where they found me, it was never social media.
This thing I was spending hours a week doing wasn’t helping me grow my business. It made sense when I stopped to think about it. My career is a licensed nutritionist, not an influencer. Why was I trying to grow my very personalized and individual-focused business using the same tools and advice as people who need to appeal to millions in order to make money with affiliate links and sponsored content? It wasn’t the right tool or the best use of my time.
On the personal side, I no longer felt the social connection that brought me to social media in the first place. It was hard to find things posted by actual friends and family members. It felt like everyone was just trying to sell me something (see influence business model above). And seeing the glossy highlights of others had me feeling less than more often than I care to admit.
Social media also played a role in pulling me more towards orthorexia and striving to eat “clean.” Learning about Intuitive Eating was another push to consider my relationship with social media. Curating your feed is usually recommended as a step in rejecting diet culture. I realized a lot of my feed was steeped in toxic diet culture messages disguised as health and wellness.
Even on the business side, I was feeling like anything I wanted to talk about had already been done, was done without nuance and context, or someone else was doing it better. This noticeably increased my anxiety and fueled imposter syndrome.
Social media was taking a toll on my mental and emotional health.
Comparison really is the thief of joy.
The Social Dilemma
In 2020, I, like many others, watched the docudrama The Social Dilemma. It reinforced what I was already feeling about spending so much time on my phone, even if the dramatizations were a bit over the top in places.
In 2021, I decided to take the month of February off from social media, so I removed the apps from my phone. At first, every time I picked up my phone, I would automatically swipe to where the Instagram app used to be on my phone screen. I would wonder about my parasocial friends – what they were doing, what they were making for dinner, what books they were reading, what they bought. It was horrifying and sad to realize how much space social media took up in my life and my brain.
By the end of that month without social media, the spell broke. I didn’t make another post, scroll my feed, or watch another story.
For a while I kept the accounts but deactivated them, so they weren’t visible to others. Maybe I would change my mind? Finally, in February of 2022, I deleted all my accounts–personal and professional.
Life (Mostly) After Social Media
To be completely honest, I am not 100% social media-free, but pretty close. I still have a LinkedIn account that I rarely look at. I do have an active Whole You Nutrition Pinterest account where I post recipes and blogs but seldom view. I use YouTube on a pretty regular basis but find it fills more of a TV viewing space in my life than anything else. I also use the BuyNothing app to give and get things from neighbors.
However, I still don’t have Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter (or X or whatever that dumpster fire is called these days), and I never took the TikTok plunge.
6 Things I Do Instead of Social Media
Subscribe to magazines
Magazines give me just enough insight into trends and book/recipe/product recommendations to scratch the itch without that same BUY!BUY!BUY! energy from social media. And they are much easier to set aside than social media ever was for me.
I did have a few annual subscriptions that mailed physical copies to me but have since transitioned to using the Newsstand feature in the Libby Library App.
Subscribe to Newsletters and Podcasts
I have subscribed to a handful of newsletters from creators I like and The Morning from NYT. Instead of starting my day scrolling Instagram, I read the short NYT morning newsletter, which leaves me feeling informed about the world, and I play a few games (Connections, Strands, The Mini, and Wordle).
I also listen to a variety of podcasts. This gives me some parasocial relationship energy that can be inspirational and encouraging, but I can consume it while cooking dinner, gardening, or cleaning instead of just staring at my phone.
Read Books
I read fiction every night before sleeping. This is a habit I cultivated to replace falling asleep to the TV every night, which had been my norm for years, but when I was an active social media user, the reading time was often short-changed by time spent scrolling.
Daily reading is the one “don’t break the chain” habit without downsides for me, and I want to continue to nurture it. Another shoutout to the Libby library app for making it so easy to have a steady supply of books to read.
Make Plans in Real Life
I have been making a point of getting together with friends in real life more regularly. This includes a monthly brunch, almost weekly hiking, and quarterly adventures for coffee, walking, or thrifting.
Sewing and Crafting
I have always been a crafter, but in the last couple of years I have gotten back into sewing, especially garments. It has been really fulfilling to create something with my hands (and it is totally compatible with watching shows and movies too).
Soduko
When I just want to do something on my phone, I usually play sudoku. It is engaging without being overly mentally taxing. For the math-haters, sudoku is numbers, but it is a puzzle, not a math problem!
These are all things I did in some capacity even when I was on social media. I do them more often now. I also have more time and space to be more intentional about what I am consuming, which actually makes me like these things even more.
The Downsides of No Social Media
Do I miss out on things by not being on social media? Probably.
I get frustrated when a restaurant or store only has a Facebook page and not a website. I know there are cool people sharing cool things that I would like. And I am sure I have missed a few party invites over the years.
But honestly, the downsides of not being on social media are nothing compared to the upside of it. On the day to day, my mental and emotional health is better and more stable. I also put more effort into connecting with people. It is so much more fun to hear life updates from someone in person or even in a text than it is to scroll past it on social media.
What Role Does Social Media Play in Your Life?
Social media is one aspect I talk about with clients as we work together to cultivate health promoting-habits and better self-care. What role does social media play in your life? Does it impact the way you eat (or think you should eat) or how you feel about your body? Does it take time away from regularly moving your body or getting enough sleep?
The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be medical advice or to diagnosis, treat, cure or prevent any disease. This information does not replace a one-on-one relationship with a physician or healthcare professional. Dietary changes and/or the taking of nutritional supplements may have differing effects on individuals.
To learn more about how working with a nutritionist could help you, schedule a free 15-minute call.