New Beginnings

It’s Friday, November 17th, 2022, 2:33pm, and I’m nearing the end stages of embarking on a brand new journey. A life without social media! I’ve already deleted my Instagram and LinkedIn accounts. Those were easy! I had little attachment to those. Being in my 40s, I never saw fit to started a Tik Tok or Snapchat page. Long gone are the days of MySpace and Livejournal. I only have one last dragon to slay that has been the biggest challenge, my Facebook account.

In 28 days, I’ll finally get to smack the daring and dreaded “delete account” button, on my final hurdle to freedom. For the past 13 plus years, I’ve documented my life on that page. Unlike others, I remained monogamous to one account. If I forgot my password, I reset that shit. If I wound up in Facebook jail, I took my lumps, did my time and waited it out. I never once created a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or in some people’s cases, 10th account. I stuck to my one and done, and boy oh boy, did that one account have a tremendous volume of content.

Today I took on the task of downloading all of my content. Pictures, videos, posts, etc. It’s mine! I created that shit, I’m taking it with me to sift through and recycle as I see fit. You see, unlike others who use social media as a platform to share mindless memes, dumb short reels and talk shit about people of Walmart, I used mine as a journal. I like to say what’s on my mind and have nothing to hide. I’m an open book for the whole world to read if they find it interesting.

For years I’ve been plotting my escape. I’ve been looking for a way out and the door has finally presented itself. Up until recently I’ve had every excuse in the book to stay. I’ve felt tethered to it, because that’s the direction the world has gone in for methods of communication and connections. It’s where you express yourself. It’s where you promote your business or artistic expression. It’s where you can buy and sell cool used shit. It’s where you can get your news. It’s where comedy is booked (I’m a comedian/booker, more on that later).

And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned that I will fall out of touch with people or feel out of the loop on events. That I will be forgotten for invites to things or just plain forgotten. Because it almost seems like when a person leaves social media, so goes their social life…If they let it.

I must consider my mental well-being and productivity first. I have been documenting my life on that thing for nearly 14yrs now and if I could see the sum total of accumulated hours spent there, I would be sickened. I am sickened! Think of all the things I could’ve accomplished with that time if spent elsewhere.

But I can’t get that time back and there will always be distractions and procrastination. Even when I leave, I will find myself looking to other means to pass time. But at least it won’t be there. A place that has only added weight to my already stressed out and anxious mind. That has exploited my interests and insecurities for capital gains.

I’ve never felt more ready.