Starting 2022 with a Break

I decided to start 2022 by going off social media for the month. In reflecting about my unrest— or what feels like a literal undoing of my rest— is deeply intertwined with my relationship to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The first two, in particular, I am on all the time, and I truly mean all of the time.

Over the past several years, I've justified my hours of scrolling, posting, engaging because it is tied to my work with gatekeeping (see my research here) and how part of the ways I challenge toxic academic socialization is by sharing resources (see explanation here and here). I share and learn about call for proposals, new articles to read from Twitter. The Facebook Groups I have joined often serve as mutual aid groups in my identity as a pre-tenure scholar. And Instagram is where I keep in touch with friends and all the Kpop and Korean drama funsies. I love so many aspects of social media. And, as equally important, I dislike so much of social media. Or, more accurately. how I have been seeing myself morph and engage with these platforms. I spend hours endlessly scrolling, being less present, hyerscrutinize the photos I take or the captions I'm trying to write, and spend time feeling like something is missing because the comparison feels real, even though I know and have read articles like this one from Psychology Today that breaks down how this phenomenon is a facade. 

So starting tomorrow, I'll be taking a break and try logging off. I know I should because of how much stress it's already causing me to even think about not using it. I want to use it even more today just to "make up" for the lost time I know I'll be incurring later by not being able to access it. Hilarious, and a reaffirmation I need to pause, take a break, and see what happens. At the very least, I imagine I'll have regained some time back. 



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