5 Insightful Things Taking A Social Media Break During A Black Movement Did

This past weekend I took time off of social media for 48 hours. What first started as a 24-hour Instagram challenge that I thought I couldn't do, turned into a 48-hour purposeful social media fast. It really showed me the importance of taking time off. In case you have FOMO like I do (or did), hopefully you’ll find this valuable.

Sometime last week one of my social media friends (shout-out to you Dami!!) challenged myself and others to take time off of Instagram for a day. When I saw my name tagged in the post my initial reaction was "really though?!" followed by "whyyyy!" LOL. Reason being was that I didn't think I could do it. Now having been publicly "called out", I felt I might as well give it a try. Common sense of course told me there’s value in taking a break, and I’ve seen multiple influencers and regular folks announce their upcoming time away from the internet. But I also low key side-eyed them, lol. Again, probably a reflection of my false belief that I couldn’t do it myself. Articles like this Forbes one further proved what I knew in the back of my mind.

The reason I thought I couldn't do it is, unlike Sweden where I grew up, pretty much the rest of the world is under some form or level of quarantine. Being "stuck at home" (yes I know I can leave my house and practice social distancing - not quite the same as life as we once knew) I've been using social media as a way of "escaping" my day to day.

You see, as a single mom working from home with 4 wonderful boys, that aren't always so angelic, I've needed quite a few woosah moments to exhale and summon every peace of patience and understanding so that I don't lose my sanity. I get it, they're boys, they're brothers, they're sick and tired of quarantine as well. But y'all....you girl is TIYAD!!

So other than solo walks here and there and solo grocery runs, social media became my fix. In the midst of new Black revolution as well, I felt the need to be in the know of what’s happening. But I'd publicly agreed to this now and I wasn't about to fail - cause then I'd be proving that I'm addicted for real. And of course I didn't want that, lol.

not the creative source I thought I needed.

As a blogger and a creative, I was also fooling myself into thinking that I'm getting all my creative juices from Instagram and from seeing what's trending on Twitter. I told myself I need to be on there so that I know what to write about and what to post about. But the reality is, I haven't posted a blog post since May 10, and my Instagram consistency is... well, not consistent, lol. So clearly my theory goes out the window. Cause if I was truly being inspired, I should've had content ideas for days.

the current black movement is actually happening off-line.

A lot of my feed lately has of course been about the current black revolution, cause all black lives still matter. It's an important discussion that I've enjoyed see not only grow but maintain momentum past the days after George Floyd's death. Seeing the energy that my black brothers and sisters are keeping as been encouraging as changes are actually taking place. (Yes, I know that police reform and accountability, as Breonna Taylor killers are still free, at least as I write this post, is the ultimate goal). I'll take the small wins along the way though. However as glad as that may make me feel, the good fight needs to be fought off line just as much, if not more. The social pressure of online media is great, and has definitely contributed to many of the changes, however many corporate changes require off line discussions. I've done my share of emailing at my own corporate organization where I work, and I'll report back in a different post.

if it's important news, it'll still be news 48 hours later.

As I mentioned above, I don't know if there's been a breakthrough in the Breonna Taylor case as at the time of writing this post, I haven't been on social media yet. [Update: still haven’e been charged. Here’s where we’re at with that.] That's because social media has simultaneously also been my news outlet. I don't really watch TV and I certainly don't watch the news like that. I'm not against being informed or anything, but all the "breaking news" I need, my timeline will make me aware of. I also get non-essential updates from Twitter recommendations and Medium blog article notifications. As you may have realized, Google knows the stuff we’re into and as soon as I open a new browser window on my phone, all the pre-loaded headlines are curated to things it knows or believes I'll be interested in. And 9/10, Google gets it right.

everything ain't news.

Along with actual essential news in my feed, I'm updated on a whole lot foolery that really ain't news at all. And guess what? Not knowing or being privy to that information is more than OK. Yes, I did start off this post by admitting to my FOMO, but the beauty of this break is, I'll never know what I missed. Unlike the FOMO I had when going to school, and sometimes even work (yes, it's part of my social life), where I thought that I'd miss out on "X" and have to hear about it the next day, I'll never know what IG stories I missed.

[Also Related: How We’re Maintaining Good Vibes in 2020]

mental clarity is a thing.

Amidst this amazing black revolution there has been so much coming to light that honestly has been A LOT to take in. My black brothers are finding themselves hanging in trees, and hashtag after hashtag keeps appearing. I will never understand it, it legit breaks my heart. The majority doesn't seem to care, they're ruling murder as suicide, BLACK PEOPLE ARE BEING KILLED. It's all too much. And although I get the importance of bringing it to light, we all need to asses our mental health and take a break when needed. And yes, it shouldn't have required being challenged online for me to take a break from social media. Specially knowing that it was starting to become a lot. But I told myself that as my feed was beginning to emphasis Black joy instead, I just won't read the caption or look at the videos of anything that looks like bad news. And although that did work, getting off altogether was simply more freeing. I spent my new free time praying and seeking God about ME, what I need and should be doing, figuring out how to be online purposely, instead of being worried about what everybody else is doing online. And you know what? God came through with "the tea". Yes, that's right. I'm sipping on my own God-given tea, tending to MY business. The Shaderoom can keep theirs (for a couple of more hours anyway, lol). Jokes aside, I'm showing up and consuming social media differently from now on. I have so many books I was convinced I didn't have the time to read, blog posts to write, LIFE TO LIVE!

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes (or days)… Including you.

conclusion.

If you're like me and think that you can't take a social media break, trust me, you can. And I'm not going to promise that you'll get a bunch of new insight or clarity. You might find yourself super bored. But the way us humans are wired, we'll find a way to combat that boredom. And that's where you'll discover something. It might be a book, a movie, a new trail to enjoy walks on. It can literally be anything big or small.

As a mom, my kids never seem to surprise me when I take away their gadgets and there's no screen-time. They'll tear up their room with a bunch of foolery (fine, to be fair let's call it creativity, lol) in the process. But those same children that thought they'd die of boredom, sure found something to do. And sometimes it's a nap (a win for me, lol). And if that's what you end up doing, you physically gave your body what it needed. Rest.

Have you ever taken a social media break before? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Grace & Peace,

-Vi