I’m taking a social media sabbath for the next month.
This year, as I began preparing for vacation, I came to a decision. While I take a vacation from work, I will also take a vacation from social media.
How a Social Media Sabbath will work:
I’m abstaining from social media. That’s it.
OK, there must be more to it.
Well…yes and no.
I primarily use Facebook and Twitter. I also sometimes use Instagram and Pinterest. I’ve joined other networks like Mastodon, Spoutible and Post, but I don’t have a lot of activity on them. And of course I’m on Linkedin, but I only log in there about once per month to reconnect WordPress.
And while I haven’t left any of these platforms permanently, I’m nowhere near as avid with any of them as I once was. So I’m mostly going to do one thing for this social media sabbath:
I’ll delete the apps from my phone.
That’s really it.
I’m not planning to use any apps that prevent me from opening the websites on the computer. Nor will I flip out if I forget and mindlessly check Twitter or Facebook.
This isn’t primarily about breaking a bad habit (I have been playing with that quite a bit already).
This is about access.
My choosing to not access social media.
And my choosing to not let others access me through social media.
I want this vacation to be a vacation.
So here are four reasons I’m taking a social media sabbath:
1. Social media is work.
Social media has, for the better part of a decade now, been another field of work. What started as a fun way to connect with people became two things: an essential outreach tool for business and an essential tool for branding.
As a church leader, I needed to use social media to not only reach out into my community, but be accessible all of the time. Meanwhile, I am expected to be creative, offering new bits of beauty into the world at least daily. If not more often.
This creative impact must be tailored to each platform, though. The vibe is different on each one.
This is all before I’m told that before considering a manuscript, publishers will check out the size of your follower count and email list.
Social media is becoming far less social for me. The ratio of fun to work these days is about 15% to 85%.
2. Blurring Boundaries.
Meanwhile, people in my work life have joined these networks; my social contacts blur with work ones. Church members friend me on facebook and message me through Messenger. They show up in my feed and also like my posts.
Some also use my personal email to contact me.
The very idea of logging on to any of these streams is bound to bring work into my vacationing life. So, to fully unplug from work, I have to unplug from social media.
3. Overwhelm and Overload.
All of that is reason enough in normal times. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain clarity of purpose and generosity of character in the present moment.
Even if there weren’t a problem with the blurring lines between social media and work and the blurring boundaries for the people who use them, we’re still stuck with overwhelm and overload.
There is so much going on all at once. Anyway. Like, all of the time now.
The volume of input is breaking our brains. And we need a break from the onslaught so we can get some grounding.
4. Truly Unplug.
I want vacation to actually be a vacation.
My parents had a rule for the whole family when I was little. No TV at the cottage. We needed to find something to do in northern Michigan that wasn’t watching a screen.
We’ve relaxed that rule in the last 15 years or so. But there’s something to it. Not to the severity of it, but its intention. To make us unplug. Not from things that we enjoy, but from the mindless dopamine dispensers that prevent us from living in the now.
Last year, when I started reading comic books again, I read so much during that vacation time. Multiple hours at a time. I read over 850 comics in 2022, and since I started in May, that’s over a hundred issues a month.
Future impacts from this social media sabbath
This is not part of any long-range plan or theory of usage. Although, I do have suspicions about the future of social media, particularly as it relates to AI, socialization, and mental health. But I don’t have a strategy for it.
I’m unplugging later today and that’s going to be a thing.
Then, when the month is over, I’ll base next steps on what I’ve learned.
Note: Defining “on” as it pertains to a social media sabbath is slippery.
I’m going to keep blogging. And these are set to share on my social media. I’ll also proactively share them on the platforms.
This will mean that you may see “me” on these platforms, but not anything I’m posting. No random thoughts I need to fire off or heart reacts or snappy conversations.
I’m taking a social media sabbath in the vein of Rest is Resistance. And it is meant as a break to recharge. For me.
But you might want to try to do the same.