How I quit Instagram and how it made my life happier

*Posting*. 15 more mins — hmm let me check how many people have liked my photo. Pft, not many people liked my photo. I think it’s just my bad photography skill..

*Scrolling around*. Next 1 hour, still *scrolling around*…

Wow, he just got promoted. And here I am, still here…

This place is nice, I wish I can be there right now. I’m tired of working :(

For those who are Instagram users (or generally, social media), I believe you have gone through one of the scenarios above. While social media has brought benefits to some of us: self-made millionaire influencers, kick-start, and growing businesses, connecting with those who dear to us; the irony is, the same tool, bring toxic to some of us.

How social media ruin our (my) life

I was an Instagram heavy user. I spent hours every night just to scroll around. Close the app. Open again. Scroll again. For what? For nothing…

I didn’t get anything new.. not knowledge, not wisdom. It was just, wasting time.

It was until to the point where I keep comparing my life. I felt bad about myself. It felt like other’s people life was better.. And just to get things worse, I was not taking any action. I just complained, keep scrolling, and let myself further left behind.

Goes on and on and on and on, the circle of death.

Social media, per se, got their income from ads. Ads need crowd. The more people see the ads, the richer they get. That’s why social media was designed to be so engaging. They make it so that we can get addicted. Make sense.

Free time? Social media. Got bored? Social media. Awkward meeting? Social media. They make it so easy (by just scrolling, you get interesting things), so the platform becomes our default stress escape.

How to quit Instagram

I’ve been trying to delete Instagram app for social media detox. However, it didn’t work as it only lasted for 2 days. Back when I delete Instagram app, I just feel like I have lost something, something big.

Frustrated, one night, I said to myself “fuck it, I’m not doing this anymore”. Soo, I deleted my Instagram account. That’s all. Poof. Gone, for good.

People were asking, of course, because I really loved my profile feed. I filled it with photos. For me? Was not easy. So how did I managed to do that?

It’s simple. Find replacement.

Generally, when we have something and it’s suddenly gone, our body and mind need adjustment. Replacement is important so that we can forget, and not feel sad about our loss (it’s the same analogy when we just broke up. Some people will need to find activities to fill in their time).

So the next question will be: what’s a good replacement? Good replacement needs to be fun too. It needs to fulfill your needs for “entertainment”. However, at the same time, it needs to give better value to your life (compared with the previous one).

For me, I replaced my thirst for Instagram by watching Youtube, subscribed to Netflix, watch TED.

So, how did it go?

After breaking up with Instagram for a while (2 months), I felt several changes in my life. I felt more grateful. I felt more connected with people whom I talk with (in the real world). I felt like I got more insight (from Youtube, Netflix, TED), which means, more topics to talk about in conversation.

One point was actually kinda unique… I felt more connected with people in the real life. I felt more excited when I met with my uni friends. Conversations were more natural. I felt genuinely excited to know how they did, what’s new in their life, etc. When you think about it, it was an irony. Social media should’ve been made our life more connected. But I felt like it didn’t really deliver its purpose.

Back to Instagram

Now I’m back to Instagram again. With a fresher mind, and being mindful of who I follow.

Lesson learned from this experiment, I completely agree with the phrase below:

Who you surround yourself with, will determine who you will be.

And actually, it’s not the tool. It’s how we use the tool. I was trapped in a bad habit. It’s not the gun, it’s the man behind it

Also remember, not everything you see on social media is real. People only show the positive side of their life.

So, use it wisely!

*scroll again*, but with more positive attitude.