Liberation

I recently read a post published last year on Medium by Komal Vaghela entitled "Embracing Freedom: My Journey of Quitting Social Media: Rediscovering Self, Embracing the Present, and Pursuing Passion".  After doing so, I decided to take my own leap and begin to wean myself from social media.  My reasons for doing so had absolutely nothing to do with politics, but everything to do with the fact that over the last few years, the amount of useful information that I've read on social media has significantly and progressively decreased.  Conversely, the amount of garbage on social media has significantly and progressively increased, especially since the various social media sites stopped fact-checking their content.  

I started out by deactivating my account on Facebook.  I never used Facebook for anything other than personal connections, but I can't really say that there was a lot of information on Facebook that I didn't hear firsthand from friends and family members.  I wasn't really a very active participant anyway.  So, shutting down Facebook for me was relatively easy.

My next step was to stop posting the content of Leadership Reverie on X (formerly known as Twitter).  I also recently deactivated my account on X, and if I don't log back on for the next 30 days, my account will be permanently erased.  There is a certain nostalgic loss here, as I've been fairly active on Twitter for the past several years.  However, I have increasingly found that most of the posts that show up on my feed are from bot accounts.  I have also noticed that many of the individuals that I previously followed are no longer actively tweeting.  Most of the news items that come across my feed are highly suspect.  At the end of the day, it's no longer useful for me - either personally or professionally - to be active on X.    

I've never had an Instagram account.  I've never used Snapchat or TikTok either.  I still use LinkedIn for professional reasons, but I have noticed that the content has lately changed, not necessarily for the better.  I would like to keep active on LinkedIn, but I will be monitoring things closely for now.

Vaghela ended her post by writing, "Quitting social media has been a transformative experience for me. It has allowed me to break free from the constant noise, embrace the present moment, and refocus on what truly matters. By eliminating unnecessary distractions and reconnecting with my passions, I have found a renewed sense of purpose and fulfillment. While it may seem challenging at first, taking a break from social media can lead to a more balanced, mindful, and meaningful life."

My own personal experience so far leads me to fully agree...