It’s been 22 days since I started my social media sabbatical. With only two exceptions (Tattoo’s engagement and Intrigue author Paula Grave’s death) I have not been on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll confess I did stay on Snapchat until January 4, but that was to follow my son and his fiancé’s vacation photos. I logged off soon as they returned, and haven’t been on since.
What have I over these 22 days?
For starters, I did not miss social media at all. My days were plenty full without reading about anyone book news or political views. If something big or important did happen, the news reached me. I’ve also managed to stay in touch with a lot of my friends through email. Telling me that at least 75-80% of the people I’m “friends” with on Facebook are more acquaintances than friends.
Second, and just as important, no one missed me. I think sometimes that social media lulls us into believing we are more important than we are. That our running commentaries are somehow vital to other people’s lives. Guess what, they aren’t. Oh sure, my friends were happy to hear about Tattoo’s engagement, but let’s face it, their lives wouldn’t have changed one bit had I decided to wait and share the information a month from now (or not shared at all). Much as I would like to think the world revolves around me and my thoughts, it doesn’t. My inbox wasn’t filled with notes saying how much they missed my notes about the Red Sox or updates about my cat. Quite the contrary. Either that’s because everyone died from not knowing my commentary or they didn’t notice it disappeared from their feed. I’m guessing the latter.
And yes, I know it’s hypocritical to be opining about opinions and self-involvement on a blog. Just be glad I deleted the paragraph about political opinions. Plus, I’m not sharing this blog on social media, I’m writing it for myself which makes opining okay. All right, maybe it doesn’t, but it’s my blog so I can make the hypocritical rules.
Anyway, this month has made me think long and hard about what I’m going to do when my sabbatical is over. I’m honestly not sure I want to go back. I know that people say I have to, for career purposes, but I’m not one hundred percent certain that’s true. It’s definitely something to think about.
I’ll get back to you all on what I decide.