Snapchat was the first social media platform that I ever had, at least I think so. I got it in secret from my mom, at 12 years old, and it felt really freeing because I didn't have any family members on there and I was *cursing* ouuuuu la laaaaa!!! Anywho, that app was like my lifeline. I was so attached to it and I posted my every thought on there. I got in fights with people over messages about the absolute dumbest things, I recorded all the weird shit my cousins did, and I watched the so-called lives of other people taking place after 35 seconds of them posting it, embarrassing. If you haven't got it yet, snapchat was like my best friend of all social media apps. So if you would've asked me 4 years ago if I would ever think of deleting Snapchat, my answer would be no.
I deleted snapchat because it wasn't good for my mental health, nor was it benefitting my life. For starters, I mainly had people my age or from my school on there so it wasn't like I was watching celebrities and feeling jealous of their lifestyles..no, nothing like that. Mainly, I was ingesting the content that my "peers" were putting out and lemme just say people do a lot. I was on there for shits and giggles, I posted stuff that I thought was funny or that was supposed to be informative--and with the addition of private stories, it was to a controlled group of people. However, my content didn't really line up with most of the other people's stories that I watched. Simply put, people are annoying. From the snap arguments, to the exposing, to the "scammers", to the making fun of how someone looks in the group chats where their snaps would be sent, it was a whole lot of people pretending to be something that they're not or just being really cringey versions of themselves. It was depressing. Another reason I chose to delete snapchat is because I felt like people had too much access to me. You may be like"Kayla...no one cares about you that much",and to that I say, okay...I'm well aware. However, the actual "chat" part of snapchat is what I'm referring to. Anyone who is your friend on there can message you, and I don't like that. Too much negativity has come my way by message and its because a simple username gave people access to interact with me. On top of that, people leave you on delivered to have the message notification over their app, like what type of bird shit is that (yes, be offended!) I understand life takes over and you can't respond to a message, but being left on delivered for a week or more is just disrespectful and if I'm being honest it messed with me. I felt like it impaired my ability to talk to people (who tend to do that delivered thing) because I didn't know if they'd keep responding or if I'd be left on delivered out of nowhere. Like I can respect you leaving me on read, but delivered is just rude. I value meaningful interactions, and snapchat easily led to a lot of meaningless ones for me. Don't get me wrong, I loved swiping up randomly to tell a girl she looks pretty or that a post was funny and I loved when people did it to me, but at the same time I hated that people could swipe up and say something that ruined my whole mood because they thought they were being "funny". In addition to those reasons, snap was bad for my image of beauty. I relied too heavily on the filters. The craziest part to me is that I could post myself looking busted on my private story without a care in the world, but when it was time for me to take a "pretty" picture I automatically put on a filter; I'm not talking about the filters that add a tint, I'm talking about the facial changing ones. Its just really sad that I'm the same girl in the pictures but when I looked in the mirror I felt bad about myself. SO...the biggest factor for me deciding to delete snap was so that I can strengthen the way I perceived my looks. You can't build self-confidence off of using filters. Do I think that you're not confident if you use filter? No, of course not. But, my confidence was (and is) fragile, so I need to build a strong foundation of my own un-edited looks, before I can play around with filters that change the way I look.
And to be very clear...I don't think I'm better than anyone who still has the app. If not for quarantine, I would likely still have snapchat, however with all this time to think I've just been reflecting on my life, so that's how I came to the conclusion that snapchat wasn't necessary for me anymore.
But with everything I've said, you could argue that that's social media in general--which I understand. I think that by deleting a social media app that was once so crucial to me and my existence, I can start to lean off of other social media apps. I do not think that all social media is bad or that your life is bad because you're on it. I still have twitter, instagram, tiktok and facebook (ik, facebook is gross but I keep it to talk to family members who I don't want to have my number and to be nosy hehehe...) I barely use tiktok--I go on it twice a week, but I keep it because its way more informative than school and soooo many tiktoks make me feel understood, I personally haven't felt that tiktok has been toxic to me yet. I love twitter because the people I follow always inform me of things or different perspectives of life that I have never experienced, however there is still a large share of ignorance on that app. Lastly, instagram is just as shitty but its the only app I post myself on now that snap is gone and why should the world be deprived of my face?
This "logging off" has not been singular to snapchat. I've never really been a person who's addicted to their phone, I can go hours without it, but I am trying to be mindful of who I follow. I've deleted people off of instagram and twitter, and on apps like tiktok and youtube I have always been very selective of who I follow/subscribe to. Limit your exposure! (Responsibliy, of course). I'm not coming to you as some "unplug hippie" because I am still very active on socials--I overshare like there's no tomorrow lol, but be mindful and selective with your energy, because yes even those online can affect you. I don't advocate for the deleting of all social media, because that is simply too much information that you are closing yourself off from and it can be very profitable in this day and age. However, take breaks! Log out! Then, come back when you're ready. Simple as that.
To conclude, I think that we have to teach ourselves to take social media with a grain of salt and to step back when it becomes overwhelming, because as humans we were not meant to ingest so much information so quickly at once.
Thank you for reading. I hope that if you liked this, that you do share it on your respective social media apps, as since I no longer have snap, my audience is quite limited. Thanks in advance!
~Okay bye! Tell a friend!
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