Reflections on Being One Month and Some Days Social Media Free

I logged out of and/or deactivated all my social media accounts on December 23rd. I told myself I’d do it for six months. Today, I am seven months sober and over a month social media free, excepting a small slip-up on Twitter on inauguration day.

It was over a year ago that I first deactivated for a month, after reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport while living in Czechia. I took a trip to Berlin without documenting it on any platforms. That felt freeing and profound— it was a wake up call. I hadn’t realized how much my social media performance of life influenced my actual life, and even though I logged back on after a month, I knew that quitting altogether was somewhere in my future.

I’ve had many people ask me why I quit social media, and for me the reasons are complicated and plentiful. It’s an awkward question to answer, similar to why did you quit drinking? The answer can often be received as a judgement on those who are still doing the thing I’ve decided not to do. I feel t…