I cut Social Media from my life cold turkey for 30+ days.

You see, I used to check Facebook and Twitter at least 20 times a day. Half the time I’d open up the page and close it in a flash if there was no hint of red indicating a notification. Whenever I was out and there was a small pocket of free time I’d jump on the good ‘ol smartphone and check up on who’s been where, who’s been doing what, or who and who have just broken up.

“WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU QUIT?!” I hear the Facebook addicts scream. Look, I just wanted to go back to a simpler time when semi-useful distractions like Facebook and Twitter weren’t around, okay? I knew the risks: my Facebook inbox would pile up with unanswered messages; randoms on my Facebook would start questioning “What happened to that guy who posted random useless links?”; and event organisers would have their plans foiled because I left invitations un-RSVP’ed. I knew the risks alright. But since I live life on the edge, I seized the day and didn’t look back…

… for 30 days.

After a few days into it I realised the problem wasn’t really Facebook and Twitter all, but my undying need to constantly ‘check’. To quench my thirst for checking I turned to other social apps like Instagram and Foursquare—apps that I soon avoided too. Oh and no, there’s not much to do on Foursquare, but you can start stealing Mayorships from your friends, as well as making up places and becoming mayors of those, like The Batcave.

Some observations:

  • On the first Saturday everyone was busy so I was home alone and without Facebook and Twitter, it was the most boring and loneliest night of my life lolz
  • … and out of the boredom, I was acquainted with 9 Korean girls lolz
  • Deleting all Social Media apps is easy. It’s having them on your phone with notifications incrementing, and having the iron will to watch and ignore them separates the men from the boys. And like a hunk of a man that I am, I eyed the notifications badge every so often and laughed at it.
  • Head felt clearer—cleansed even. No longer disrupted by quick glances at notifications.
  • Without Facebook taking up to an hour of my life every week-night, I filled it with productive activities like catching up with ‘The Office’ and this ancient analogue thing called… ‘reading’.
  • Social Media is how the youngsters communicate these days, so giving it up entirely may be difficult. I mean, I have to resort to emailing my friends again?
  • The net of friends I communicated with became very small without Facebook and Twitter, but with those I still communicated with, conversations were deeper, focused and more enjoyable.
  • No longer received news as-it-happened on Twitter—can’t decide if this is better or worse though.
  • Read more RSS feeds about my favourite topics: movies, digital and consumer technology

Overall, life was just a bit boring without Social Media. It’s like eating a chocolate sundae without the nuts. It’s good on it’s own, but add some nuts and it becomes superb (unless you’re allergic).