Most of us have a fondness for social media, and rightfully so. It helps us find community, stay connected in spite of distance, and is a huge source of information. It keeps us loosely connected to people we have met from every stage of life. It can be a bit of an illusion, muddying what is reality. I felt like there was just SO. MUCH. NOISE. I had honestly had enough!
Endless scrolling on social media became background noise, muffling my inner voice.
I am no stranger to shutting down distractions when I need to focus. As I always say, there is a balance to life. I was honestly feeling stuck, unfulfilled, and frustrated! Research does not always go as planned, temporary life inconveniences pop-up, and hey, everyone has their version of difficult problems to solve daily. I was getting opinions from friends, reading insightful blogs and books, and of course, checking out my social media feeds. I realized that I was listening to too much outside of myself and not focusing on my own inner voice.
Keeping up with constantly changing social media algorithms can be a chore at times.
In early 2020 (I can’t believe that was 5 years ago), I was nearing the end of my PhD studies when COVID-19 shutdowns initiated. As most of us know, we all were forced behind our computers. I had to turn to social media to build my professional network because I was not able to attend any professional conferences at such a critical point of my graduate studies. I mean, I needed to network and, more importantly, find a J-O-B. I spent the majority of 2020 building a personal brand. I upgraded my LinkedIn profile, sorted through every tweet on X (Twitter), and converted my Instagram into a professional site.
I enjoyed sharing ideas and connecting with so many amazing people. Nevertheless, I realized that I was getting stuck – reading comments, responding, and navigating the endless timeline/feed. The pattern became much more obvious after I watched a documentary – The Social Dilemma. I decided to mute my notifications to all of my social media apps in hopes of promoting self-initiated social media use and decreasing the triggered response.
Related Post: What Self-Care Means to Me
“In general, we’re a social network. I prefer that because I think it is focused on the people part of it – as opposed to some people who call it social media, which I think focuses more on the content.”
– Mark Zuckerberg
Social media is great for building community!
From 2022 until mid-2024, I was posting regularly. I met so many people and am grateful for how much social media keeps me connected to so many great thinkers. It was also a crucial point in my life – the start of my professional career. I was refining my voice with a new identity and purpose that I did not quite understand or appreciate. During this time, I also witnessed a loved one become a victim of a social media scam. IT WAS BAD!! After the scam, I knew more than ever that there was a dark side, an inauthenticity, to social media few ever speak about. I decided that I had had enough!
My social media break gave me an opportunity to identify what is most important and more time to prioritize that list.
Once I deleted the apps from my phone, the journey began. I wanted to hear my own voice. I wanted to answer the question, “What does success look like to you now, Dr. Waters?” Silencing the noise created an authentic space for me to think, create, and be. It created time for balance, specifically rest. But most importantly, it gave me time to realign on my core beliefs. It reminded me that authenticity in community is powerful!
I’m grateful for the time I spent away from social media. I highly recommend time away from the constant scrolling. We deserve to live life thinking for ourselves, without the constant noise and influence of daily social media use. We have to employ healthy boundaries with our digital devices.
During my social media break, I found time to be creative. I spent time journaling and (over)thinking, reading and researching, and resting. A lot of good came out of my time away from social media, including the restart of this blog as a passion project. I started this blog a little more than a decade ago. I set out to use it as a space to share my thoughts and, hopefully, build community. Today, my hope remains the very same!
Dr. Crystal K. Waters 
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