Running a blog and actively using social media go hand-in-hand. However, while it can be super fun, it can also be incredibly draining. After some careful consideration—and a loss of inspiration—I decided to take a seven day Instagram cleanse. I mean, if Pete Davidson can delete every single one of his photos with & without Ariana Grande, then I could take a step back too. Also, Kendall has been known to delete her entire insta from time to time and she’s as cool as they come.
Also, I’ve become weary of my social media use. Believe it or not, I experienced some ugly bullying from someone who I thought was my friend, which made me second guess my online presence—just for a second. My so-called “friend” told me that I was boring on Instagram and that clearly no one wanted to follow me. She also told me that if I didn’t post every single day people would forget about me and I’d become irrelevant. Needless to say, she and I are no longer on speaking terms. What she said was awful, yes, but it also got me thinking.
Why do we depend so much on this social network to prove our worth in the world? I may not be out here saying I’m doing an Instagram cleanse because my life is so “fucking lit” but I am saying that I needed a break. Hell, I still need a break and I was gone for a week. Here’s why I decided to log-off online.
7 Reasons for My 7 Day Instagram Cleanse
1. To focus on myself
Somewhere between engaging with followers on social media and working a full-time job, I forgot about what I really want to do: write for print magazines. Sure, I’ve been published a few times before. But I’m not satisfied with just a few times. I don’t like settling and I sure as hell don’t like putting my dreams on the back burner. Taking a week-long Instagram cleanse helped me get focused back on my goals and come up with a game plan to make sure they come to fruition.
2. As a social experiment
Are people correct—if you don’t exist on social media, do you exist in real life? If you didn’t post it, did it really happen? Yes it did, and fuck that theory.
3. To re-inspire my content
The week before I decided I was doing an Instagram cleanse, I was attempting to plan out my content for the week. I was flipping through magazines, scrolling on Pinterest, and trying to source fierce content for my page. However, I just felt stuck. And if not even a photo of Kate Moss in a Zebra print coat could get me out of my funk, then something had to change.
4. For my mental health
I don’t know about you, but I feel like my mental health rapidly declines with the more time I spend on Instagram. All of these perfect lives, gorgeous outfits, bangin’ bodies! It’s too much. However, it’s important to remember that unlike Britney’s song What U See (Is What U Get), you rarely get what you see on IG. Of course there are times that you do, but even when people are being “real” they’re still controlling what “realness” it is that you’re seeing. It’s extremely contrived. (Ps. For a hilarious story about insta-fakeness, check out My Not So Perfect Life.)
5. To live in the moment
Ultimately, living vicariously through other people’s lives takes you out of yours. What stories do you have to tell? Where have you been? What memories have you made? If all that comes to mind are things that people on your feed have done, you’re in big trouble. So, my advice is to look up from your screen, take in the world around you and make some moments of your own.
6. To kick envy to the curb
As much as I’d like to think I’m not envious of other people’s lives, I am. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. I mean, it’s kind of hard not to be even just slightly envious when you’re constantly watching people jet off to Paris from the low-key comfort of your basement apartment.
7. Just because I wanted to
Do you really need more of a reason than that? I wanted to do it, and so I did it. Also, perhaps it’s because I’m a writer—but I like Twitter better. There, I said it.
Anyway, take from my Instagram cleanse what you will. However, I think it’s a beneficial thing to do every now & then. Get off of your phone and get living! And, of course, stay fierce.
