An actual record of what has changed after quitting SNS for a year
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Research results and news that SNS has an adverse effect on people's mentality are everywhere. Developer Josh C. Simmons also heard the statement 'I quit SNS and my relationships have improved' and 'I was able to create a startup worth a million dollars'. One person who decided to cut off SNS in 2018, thinking that 'it must be a good thing to quit SNS'. Simmons has released a record of what happened and what benefits were gained by actually cutting off SNS.
I Quit Social Media for a Year and Nothing Magical Happened | Josh C. Simmons
https://joshcsimmons.com/2019/09/10/i-quit-social-media-for-a-year-and-nothing-magical-happened/
The first thing Simmons did to start cutting off SNS was to remove apps such as Facebook and Instagram. This is because it was thought that if the app was at hand, the devil would have to touch the SNS. However, regarding the photos, he said that he downloaded it from Facebook because he has some memories that he does not want to forget. Instagram didn't have a download option, so I wrote a simple script in Python to download all the images from my profile, Simmons said.
◆ Day 0-90
Simmons says the first 90 days, especially the 15th to 40th days, were pretty tough. Simmons thinks that sometimes he feels depressed for no particular reason, and that this is probably because the amount of dopamine released has decreased due to the severance of SNS. At first, Simmons picked up and unlocked his smartphone 50 times a day for no reason, wandering his fingers in search of a non-existent app.
Simmons was also active as a musician, so for the first few months after quitting social media, he wondered, 'How can I announce a concert without Facebook?' However, after finishing the concert several times, I realized that no one came to the concert just by looking at the Facebook announcement. People who come to the concert have come to know the existence of the concert in some way without Facebook.
◆ Day 91-365
After 91 days, SNS cuts went very smoothly, Simmons said. However, when he came here, the question 'Why do I take pictures?' Came up as a big question.
Simmons has been taking pictures 'to share photos on social media' for 15 years since he started SNS as a high school student in 2004. However, when I stopped using SNS, I no longer felt the need to take pictures. In response to the question 'Why do you take pictures?', 'Why do you need a high-quality, high-quality camera?' 'Why do you need a good smartphone to take pictures and share them on SNS?' The question arises one after another. Simmons has an iPhone XR as of September 2019, but he seems to have no longer felt the need to have the latest smartphone because he succeeded in cutting off SNS. 'If you decide to buy a new one, you'll probably buy an out-of-the-box model in the future,' Simmons said.
◆ What I got by cutting off SNS
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・ Improvement of mental health
One of the big benefits of continuing to cut off SNS for a year is improving concentration. Simmons has been meditating for 1000 days in a row, which has some effect on improving his concentration, but it seems that cutting off SNS is also helping.
In addition, people use themselves differently depending on the situation, but many people should also have a persona called 'self on SNS.' However, while 'I am with my friends' and 'I am at work' can be parted by switching scenes, 'I am on SNS' is always forever attached to me. This was stressful for Simmons.
In the United States, emotions left behind by SNS are called 'FOMO', but Simmons says that such stress is part of FOMO. One of the benefits I got was that the stress was greatly reduced by quitting SNS.
・ Strengthening interpersonal relationships
Simmons had 1000 'friends' on Facebook, but 2% of them actually care. The number of friends is displayed on Instagram etc., and sometimes I feel depressed when there are fewer than people, but by quitting SNS, I care only about my really important friends, and it is real, healthy and reciprocal Simmons says he is now able to focus on maintaining friendships.
・ Changes in presence with respect to reality
by Austin Loveing
By quitting SNS, Simmons can now see things in front of him as they are, without looking at them from the perspective of 'whether or not they will be photographs.' Also, when an idea comes to mind, instead of updating information on SNS halfway or boiling down the idea because you want to post it, it just fits in the action of 'writing in a notebook'. It came to be.
◆ Conclusion
It seems that life changes drastically due to the disconnection of SNS, and sometimes it feels inconvenient, but basically, 'I prefer living without SNS compared to a year ago,' Simmons said. It seems that he is not thinking about returning to a life with SNS.
Simmons describes the relationship between social media and users as 'abuse,' with 'millions of people creating data and giant tech companies devouring it to generate money.' 'I can't say that cutting off SNS is good for everyone, I can only say that SNS was lowering the quality of life for me,' said Simmons. Although dramatic things such as 'launching' did not occur, it seems that it was able to greatly improve the quality of life.
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