Why do we need social media 'detoxing'?

I have such a love hate relationship with social media. Sometimes I love it and I love how supportive people can be and how people actually appreciate what you have to share: this blog wouldn't have got started without Instagram for one thing. Then, sometimes, you see the other side and how claustrophobic and petty it can get and it can make people. I've seen so many posts about how appreciation turns into judgement which turns into number of likes and followers and retweets and shares...that side of social media is called BULLSH*T just to throw it out there.

'Detoxing' is the new thing everyone seems to be doing to avoid said bullsh*t and I fully understand how it can draw you in and then spit you back out again feeling ten times more crap than the last time you checked Instagram (aka a few mins ago because it's that awkward end of summer period where no one is doing anything and everyone is bored). I don't know if its something I could do though. When I started up this blog it was all about cutting that out and you doing you and not giving a damn and, not to be dramatic (we all know I can be) I'd feel like a bit of a defeatist if I went on a detox and suddenly cut it out my life like a girl walking into the hairdressers after a messy breakup *snip snip*. A tad dramatic but then on the flip side I have noticed that I've become way too attached to my phone and if I did one of those experiments where they saw how many times a day you checked it, I would be ashamed for sure. So I do, low key, see the appeal of disappearing off the face of the earth (or at least the earth via Snapmaps) for a month and seeing how much difference it makes.

So, for my own purposes as much as your own here's a couple things I'm going to try and do and stick to for at least the next couple weeks to try and help myself have a bit of a cleanse instead of a full detox - you're getting all the skin care terms tonight guys - and to try and work on my shockingly bad self control (and all my worst personality traits too - enjoy).

1. Have an unfollowing spree

Knock yourself out. If they don't have a positive impact in your life, let them go. I don't care how many people debate this, there is something really satisfying about going through and cutting down the people you follow to just people you know, like, are actually interested in or inspire you in some way. I don't know if this applies to other people too but I'm the worst at following someone because we have like two mutual friends somewhere along the line and suddenly I'm seeing a whole load of holiday pics and going out pics and as cute as they are I have literally no clue who they are or why I'm liking a photo of them and their mojitos.

2. Turn off your location on any apps this applies to.

Obviously the main one here is the whole Snapmaps situation. Before Snapmaps we just had some location filters and we were fine but now everything seems so dependent on it its just really intrusive if you think about it. The last couple months I've been a just leave it on and leave it be type of person but actually no one needs to know where I am all the time its just a bit god damn strange when you think about it. Then before you know it you're checking it everywhere you go to see if you're gonna bump into eight people you know (Shropshire is a good one for that considering its in the middle of no where) and whether or not you can leave the house with three day old hair and some god awful joggers and jumper combo to go and get ice cream from the co op in peace (We've ALL done it don't deny it). IT SHOULDN'T MATTER. I'm also putting a ban on checking it on the principle that if you can't see where I am its now weird to be stalking you.

3. Stop checking who's seen your story

Guaranteed, it will be exactly the same people as the last time you posted something. It's just extra scrolling we don't need in our lives. I'm bad at this one on Instagram because once I changed my profile to link to my blog easier I got given Insights. For those of you who haven't seen insights it tells you almost EVERYTHING. How many people clicked back to see your story again, how many took an action from it, how many accounts a post has reached and how many impressions its made. Literally no idea what half of them mean it just KEEPS throwing numbers at you, tempting you to look? Like hun, last time I checked I was on Instagram not an Excel spreadsheet.

4. Swap your apps over

If you're anything like me, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest haven't moved since I got my phone. Honestly this is the best trick to stop you checking them. Switch places on your home screen with Spotify and your Gallery instead and watch yourself automatically click them thinking your going onto Snapchat and instead you're in playlists and you might as well change the song now. THIS WORKS. I PROMISE.

5. ZOOM OUT

Remember that as lovely as social media is and as good as her highlight looks - yes girl - its all just the best side of everybody and unless you are Beyonce they don't look like that outside of their Instagram page. I promise. We're all just normal people with very normal lives doing our own thing. So you do you and just take a sec to zoom out of it all occasionally and remember what's actually going on in your life.

So, I'm going to call these my five golden rules to detoxing and tonight I'm also throwing in some face masks, a lot of ice cream and pizza and a bottle (or two) of wine to help me try and stick to them. A little bit of a selfish post this time because I wanted to write this post for myself more than anything but I hope this helps you all too. Much love. Happy detoxing, whether its the full on MIA routine or just some cheeky unfollowing. Enjoy!

XXX