{"id":196695,"date":"2021-03-08T12:27:16","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T09:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ditching-social-media-in-2021\/"},"modified":"2021-03-08T12:27:16","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T09:27:16","slug":"ditching-social-media-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ditching-social-media-in-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"#Ditching social media in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28cdc44e401\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28cdc44e401\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ditching-social-media-in-2021\/#The_opportunity_cost_of_social_media\" >The opportunity cost of social media<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ditching-social-media-in-2021\/#How_I_got_here\" >How I got here<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ditching-social-media-in-2021\/#The_alternative\" >The alternative<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Ditching <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> in 2021<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                                <span>Do I consume social media or is it slowly consuming me? This blurred line has garnered increased attention due to recent documentaries like <\/span><i><span>The Social Dilemma,<\/span><\/i><span> which popularized deeply unsettling questions about the impact of social media on our mental health, politics, even free will.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Yet many of us have our reasons for staying in the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>. I\u2019m sure there are some prolific entrepreneurs and writers who have no problem managing their social media usage, but that\u2019s not my experience. I find these platforms consistently distract from my most important work. It\u2019s a huge cost that I just can\u2019t ignore anymore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I\u2019ve attempted on several occasions to rise above the addiction, placing heavy restrictions on my daily usage. Good intentions only got me so far. Somehow I\u2019ve always been pulled back into social media\u2019s gravity, using it the way it demands to be used (i.e. obsessively).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That is, until a few weeks ago. I have finally decided that social media steals too much of my time and attention to warrant continued investment. For 2021, I\u2019ve chosen a more clear-cut <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to handling social media: <\/span><i><span>network-cutting.<\/span><\/i><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_opportunity_cost_of_social_media\"><\/span><span>The opportunity cost of social media<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>On a sunny day in the late 2000s, Mom snapped my photo and uploaded it to her computer. There I was, a freshman, grinning and backlit in front of her blinds. Not candid or stylish \u2014 just a grainy placeholder photo to help me complete my Myspace profile. Months later, I adopted Facebook as well, and within a couple of years, I had signed up for Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Unlike most hobbies and habits I picked up in high school, this one stuck. The longer I was on social media, the more weekly time I invested in each platform. I recorded photos from backpacking <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>s, learned about important causes, shared my own articles and short stories, and networked to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars for my copywriting business \u2014 all thanks to social media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But the benefits did not come without their costs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The most obvious cost was my time. According to <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/433871\/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide\/\"><span>Statista<\/span><\/a><span>, the average daily social media usage was 144 minutes in 2019. Assuming I\u2019m fairly average \u2014 a safe assumption \u2014 that means I spent almost 900 hours browsing social media websites in one calendar year. Since high school, that adds up to several <\/span><i><span>months <\/span><\/i><span>of my life in accumulated scrolling, liking, posting, friend requesting, and meme sharing.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1341855 lazy\" alt=\"\" width=\"621\" height=\"431\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 621px) 100vw, 621px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-08-at-10.12.29.png\" data-lazy=\"true\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-08-at-10.12.29.png 621w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-08-at-10.12.29-280x194.png 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-08-at-10.12.29-389x270.png 389w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-08-at-10.12.29-195x135.png 195w\"\/><figcaption>Credit: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/433871\/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide\/\">Statista<\/a><\/figcaption><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/growth-quarters\/2021\/03\/08\/entrepreneur-signing-off-social-media-2021\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenextweb.com%2Fgrowth-quarters%2F2021%2F03%2F08%2Fentrepreneur-signing-off-social-media-2021%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Daily social media usage worldwide 2012-2019.\" data-title=\"Share Daily social media usage worldwide 2012-2019. on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Daily social media usage worldwide 2012-2019. on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Daily social media usage worldwide 2012-2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span>But on its own, sunk time doesn\u2019t directly equate to a lack of value. What I gained for all that time on social media \u2014 and whether I could have gotten greater value for my time elsewhere \u2014 is harder to quantify.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I think the most apt analogy I\u2019ve heard is that social media is like cognitive junk food. These sites emphasize headlines and hot takes rather than depth and nuance. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Like fast food, social media plays on my weaknesses by maintaining a close enough appearance to substance \u2014 so much so that sometimes I can ignore the difference. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The problem is, I don\u2019t want a mere <\/span><i><span>passable <\/span><\/i><span>substitute for tackling big ideas, understanding the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>, and connecting with friends. Just give me the real thing. Give me depth, substance, and real connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And what about creators who only use social media to spread and publish ideas? Instant publishing offers many clear benefits \u2014 but it also offers a dangerous shortcut for anyone who desires to produce work that lasts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Author and economist <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/timharford.com\/2019\/02\/how-behavioural-economics-helped-me-kick-my-smartphone-addiction\/\"><span>Tim Harford<\/span><\/a><span> put the opportunity cost of his social media usage in exact numbers: \u201cMy Twitter habit is more of a problem. I have 145,000 followers, gently persuaded over 10 years and 40,000 tweets to follow me \u2014 that\u2019s about 10 books\u2019 worth, or 20 years of weekly columns. This alone was a reminder of just what an effort Twitter could be.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_I_got_here\"><\/span><span>How I got here<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>I\u2019ve never taken more than a single month off social media since my freshman year of high school. And even those few breaks wouldn\u2019t have happened without first discovering the work of Cal Newport, author and professor of computer <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> at Georgetown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Newport writes at the intersection of professional development and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>. From late 2018 through 2019, I read three of his books in rapid succession, with one idea rising above the rest: <\/span><i><span>deep work<\/span><\/i><span>. Here\u2019s a definition from <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.calnewport.com\/about\/\"><span>his website<\/span><\/a><span>:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>The Deep Work Hypothesis:<\/b><span> The ability to concentrate without distraction on a demanding task (what I call \u2018deep work\u2019) is becoming more rare at the same time that it\u2019s becoming more valuable in the knowledge sector. As a result, those individuals and organizations who put in the hard work to cultivate this skill will thrive.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Newport\u2019s Deep Work Hypothesis caused me to reconsider how I organize my day, what I value in work and leisure, and my relationship to social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As a copywriter, deep work is how I make my living. Unbroken, focused attention is what pays the bills and moves my business forward. The more time I dedicate to the craft and business of writing, the better I become and the more work I produce. When something gets in the way of writing, it interferes directly with my earning and career potential.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And nothing pulls me away from writing faster than Twitter, Facebook, or even LinkedIn. What began as an innocent high school hobby now steals so much of my time and attention. I knowingly bleed productivity every week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">*wakes up and looks at phone*<br \/>ah let&#8217;s see what fresh horrors await me on the fresh horrors device<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Miss O&#8217;Kistic (@missokistic) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/missokistic\/status\/796870708412358657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 11, 2016<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_alternative\"><\/span><span>The alternative<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>Maintaining a social media presence \u2014 especially for writers and entrepreneurs \u2014 often feels non-negotiable. The choice isn\u2019t <\/span><i><span>whether <\/span><\/i><span>you use social media, but <\/span><i><span>how<\/span><\/i><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the opening page of <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Invested-Changing-Forever-Americans-Invest\/dp\/1984822543\/?tag=tnw88-20\"><i><span>Invested<\/span><\/i><\/a><span>, Charles Schwab writes, \u201cThe world of business, like the rest of life, is full of wonderful temptations, and making a choice about where you are going to devote your energy is often as much about dismissing things as it is about choosing something. A singular sense of purpose gives you focus and clarity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cutting social networks from my life for the next year is my attempt to achieve a new level of focus \u2014 perhaps one that becomes an advantage. What will a return to focus mean for me this year? Maybe I\u2019ll publish more articles in more reputable magazines than any year before \u2014 or earn a book contract. Maybe I\u2019ll finish work early every day and have more time to read, exercise, or call up a friend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Think about when was the last time you texted someone, \u201cHow are you?\u201d Without the crutch of <\/span><i><span>feeling<\/span><\/i><span> like I know friends from updates from social media, I\u2019ll have to be more proactive. I\u2019ll have to ask. For now, I have many aspirations and I\u2019m optimistic about what a year without social media could mean personally and professionally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Of course, there\u2019s a possibility that things go counter to my plan. Maybe a year without social media will change the way I see it. Maybe the benefits will become clearer to me and I\u2019ll re-log on to each platform with enthusiasm at the start of 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If I\u2019m honest, I doubt that\u2019ll be the case. I believe the internet is a better place to learn, write, and grow a business when I\u2019m not competing for trivial achievements like a fresh new badge about a single retweet or like.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I have a hunch that I\u2019ll never choose to go back to social media. Or maybe it\u2019s a prayer. Either way, I\u2019m out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-post-pubDate\">\n                                    Published March 8, 2021 \u2014 09:27 UTC\n                                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script data-src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;appId=378011798897423&amp;version=v2.6\" id=\"socialSrcFacebook\" type=\"text\/template\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/growth-quarters\/2021\/03\/08\/entrepreneur-signing-off-social-media-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Ditching social media in 2021&#8221; Do I consume social media or is it slowly consuming me? This blurred line has garnered increased attention due to recent documentaries like The Social Dilemma, which popularized deeply unsettling questions about the impact of social media on our mental health, politics, even free will.\u00a0 Yet many of us have&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":196696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/growth-quarters?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/social-media-2-gq.png&signature=c1041707c44e79771e9e294f79913b88","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}