A
few months ago, when my partner Norbert and I were talking about our upcoming
move to Colombia, I came up with the “brilliant” idea to go off of social media
for the year that we’re living abroad. I thought it would be a great way to
truly engage with the culture around us rather than falling back into the
comfort zone that our social media platforms provide. With the world at your fingertips,
you can never truly be far away anymore. Even though my (digital) life is often
punctuated by mundane updates from people I might not even know, their presence
in my life (however small and insignificant) makes it possible for me to feel
less alone, less uncomfortable, more at home, etc.
Of
course, now that it’s time to actually go thru with our plan, I don’t think it’s
so brilliant anymore. But here we are, four days away from D-day.
I
realize that the decision to go off of social media in this day and age might
sound a bit drastic, so let me explain. First off, after the intensity of the
election that turned my distracted social media habit into an outright addiction,
I wouldn’t mind a break from the barrage of information and online screaming
matches. Being on social media has made me feel like I’m staying up to date on
the news and being productive in my democracy, but I’m not convinced that
either of these is actually true.
Secondly,
I’m interested in pursuing this as an experiment to explore just how addicted I
actually am to social media. I’ve been living my life in some kind of public
online platform since I was in high school. That’s over fifteen years of
blurring the line between real life and digital life! Myspace, Livejournal,
Facebook (in its earliest baby stages), Instagram, Twitter – I’ve interacted
with them all, some of them more than others. Will I go through withdrawal
symptoms, like any other drug addict would when weaning off of their drug of
choice? As someone who actively participates in and enjoys social media, I can
already tell that this won’t be an easy separation for me—and it hasn’t even
started yet!
Also,
the more I learn about social media, the more I wonder—can we actually survive
in today’s world without it? And what will we miss out on in the process? On the
flip side, what can be gained from opting out of this supposed “necessity”? Will I even want to reactivate my social media
accounts once this is year-long sabbatical is over?
I’m
interested in seeing how the absence of social media will change my
relationships and other aspects of my life. Without the convenience of finding
out about others’ life by scrolling through my news feed, will I be more
inclined to give someone a call? And without the ability to fill my spare time
with never-ending scrolling, what will fill these moments instead? Will I
become more creative, more extraverted, more introverted, quieter, more
talkative? Will I be depressed and bored? Or will I finally learn a new
instrument or read all the books that have been on my reading list forever?
That
being said, Norbert and I still want to keep in touch with our friends and
family. One reason why I love social media so much is because I love sharing my
life and connecting with others, and this blog is going to give me the outlet
to continue doing so. We’ll post updates and photos as often as we can, so don’t
forget to sign up for email updates! And I hope that you will still reach out
to me by email at Carmella.guiol@gmail.com.
I’m
also extremely interested to hear about your own relationship to social media.
Do you love it? Hate it? Make money off it? Can’t live without it but wish you
could? Please share your opinions on social media with me—I’d love to hear them
all! And if you know someone else with an interesting social media story,
please send them my way!
All
the best from Colombia!
