APRIL 19 ― I tried this about a month ago. I uninstalled Facebook, X and Instagram from my phone, logged out of my online accounts and, well, lived more or less offline.
If there’s one form of “fasting” that’s not often talked about, or not discussed enough, it’s probably the simple act of logging out for an extended period of time.
I think Jackie Chan was spot on in his critique of social media and how many folks are practically “living” online:
“Young people waste too much time on their phones. I would rather waste my time thinking, watching good movies, listening to music, learning Mandarin, listening to more poems, looking at useful things, attending meetings, reading scripts, and working on my martial arts skills.” (quoted in CNA Lifestyle, May 11, 2023)
When we log off (and maybe even “block” certain sites which we know tend to consume us) it’s like teleporting ourselves away from the city and into the forest i.e. we are in effect forcing ourselves to feel, hear and see stuff we wouldn’t otherwise.
Like seeing huge trees or strange animals, (suddenly!) there could emerge individual or individuals whose voices we haven’t heard in a while or whose very presence we realise we need to pay more attention to.
When we take a break from obsessively checking our Instagram notifications (to satisfy that oh-so-important craving for validation) we may find more heart to offer needed validation (and a listening ear?) to those in our families or offices.
Social media has resulted in millions being “alone together”; a simple media fast to get more people seeing and talking to each other can hardly be a bad thing.
When we quit the doom scrolling we will likely feel our anxiety and anger dissipate; we may not be so eager to “fix” those strangers on X who hold directly opposed socio-political narratives from ours, thereby saving energy for other things.
People who spend inordinate amounts of time arguing online probably need to do this desperately. As per Jaron Lanier’s warning, too much time online can turn us into assholes.
Social media tempts us to “become exo-subjects, sending selfies out into the void, in the search for validation of a self that is now distributed across the wires... our own expropriating experiences of the network augur a new species: self-obsessed yet without a workable sense or definition of selfhood. Which itself adds up to a society without the social.” (Dominic Pettman, Infinite Distraction)
When we stop having to spread ourselves thin across various apps, we get the chance to recentre and perhaps achieve higher levels of integrity.
Just like how an excessive intake of food may overload our digestive system, a 24/7 You Only Live Online (the new YOLO) can also overwork and overtax our mental capacities.
Constantly checking our feeds, getting outraged or feeling vindicated by the latest news, mocking or empathising with individuals in bad or sad stories, commenting on a thousand issues in a day — all this can be a burden on our brains (and thus our relationships) in a dangerously “invisible” way.
So, hey, maybe a fresh sort of fast is something worth thinking about. Disconnecting (at least temporarily) may be a great move to reconnect with both ourselves and others.
Further reading:
Lanier J (2018) Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now
Pettman D (2015) Infinite Distraction
Turkle S (2012) Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
