I tried to write this post six days ago and found that I really had no motivation. I have had a couple people in my life bring it up over the last week so I thought maybe now is the time.
My social media vacation is over, and like any vacation, I don’t really want it to end. What is so great about this vacation is that it doesn’t have to end; I can just keep on doing everything I am doing and not telling the whole internet about it. Mmmmmm. Bliss.
Truth be told, every time I think about signing back into Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, I actually feel the slightest bit of anxiety and I quickly go back to whatever other activity I was previously engaged in. I can’t quite pinpoint the exact cause of the anxiety, but I think it is that there is SO MUCH. Everything just keeps coming and coming. It never stops. It is rather like how postal workers feel about the mail, I imagine. It really makes me tired. “Facebooking” is fairly passive, but really, the whole time a person is scrolling through their newsfeed, they are making decision after decision: to read or not to read, comment or not to comment, share or not to share, like or not to like… And that just scratches the surface. Then there are all the questions about how to interpret something, whether or not someone will interpret your words as they are meant, and on, and on, and on. That is exhausting. How anyone has any mental energy for anything after that is beyond me.
However, I do plan to return. Right after I hit publish, as a matter of fact. I get most of my readership from Facebook and Twitter and I have missed out on some good interactions over the last thirty-some-odd-days. There is a lot about Facebook that I do not miss AT ALL, but there are some really great people out there that I only interact with on Facebook. If it weren’t for Facebook, many of these people would not be part of my life, at all. That isn’t good or bad, that is just life. I am thankful that I am still able to have these contacts and am willing to wade through some of the nonsense to make sure I still have them.
One thing is for sure, I am going to be on social media a lot less. I may opt for more of an Instagram-based social media life, but we’ll see. I sort of have this dread that the quietness of this vacation is about to be broken and I’m a little sad about it…
*Serendipitously, Tsh Oxenreider over at Art of Simple wrote a post on this very same topic the day after I was set to end my “vacation.” Woman after my own heart.
Máthair Fiona 
I don’t think you missed much!! I have had social media lags from time to time and do enjoy it every time. In fact, I think I might impose another one soon! I did one of those photos a day on instagram last month and in the beginning I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed learning more about the nonsense that is the hashtag so feel I finally get that now. BUT the pressure to come up with something based on the promp every day was stressful. So much so I didn’t bother with the last 3 days of the month. That is SO me. Pull the pin right before the finish line. Lol The non completer. Anyway, I get it. I am also glad you are back. 🙂 x
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Haha! I have thought about participating in one of those, but I would end up being really sporadic, and then I’d feel guilty. How ridiculous! I’m glad you figured out the hashtag 😉
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I can see how Facebook can be useful for so many things, but there is a lot to take in. I only recently signed up for FB, and that’s just to set up a page for my blog. I didn’t set up a personal profile. Still trying to decide that. Glad your social media vacation was refreshing!
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A personal profile is nice, but it can get out of hand easily.
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Welcome back!
“and like any vacation, I don’t really want it to end” – I had such mixed feelings when returning to blogging, and this was one of them! I have jumped back in the deep end, but I don’t feel overwhelmed. When I do, I back off. 🙂
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That’s a healthy attitude! I’ll have to keep an eye on how it all makes me feel and take breaks more frequently.
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