Leaving the Internet proved impossible, but even a week’s break can be enough, writes Rönkä.
I remembered Billgren’s funny response last summer, when it seemed that deleting Instagram accounts was becoming something of a trend. I concluded that many had come to a similar conclusion as Billgren and felt that those were not sufficient reasons to update.
At least once I logged out and lived a whole week without opening the app. For that week, existence felt fresh and touchingly simple. It was a relief not to have to argue with myself about any “noise” or watch cooking videos selected by algorithms and wake up half an hour later wondering why I was still watching them.
So why don’t I and millions of others follow the advice and protect our mental health?
I argue that the answer is linked to Ernst Billgren’s exaggeration of being in the public eye, precisely the message that \”this is what I look like right now and I’m alive.\” After all, social media made that message an end in itself. It was no longer the only message to convey.
In short, I could, or at least I could imagine I could, tell everyone: \”I show and I’m alive!\”
Sometimes it seems that the mis-encounters on social media are paradoxically more genuine than the encounters in reality. At best, distance and communication based on messaging give oxygen, space to express yourself as you really mean. In the so-called reality, everything often happens too fast and in too many lanes at the same time.
A friend of mine once jokingly asked me why I’m such a boring person to meet, even though my Whatsapp messages are funny. All I could say was that it’s easier to be funny on the phone than in reality.
And it wouldn’t be life-threatening, even if you couldn’t leave social media. I’m tired of the unnecessary confrontation, where social media is either for junkies or refusing to use social media for boomerating.
However, I sincerely recommend a regular week break to everyone. It’s really good.
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