Intentional Social Media Use

june 6, 2019 / the last time that I posted to my Instagram account

It has now officially been 383 days since I wrote my last post on Instagram, sharing my (possibly temporary or possibly permanent) goodbyes. And as we all know, it wasn’t the first time that I had broken up with Instagram. As I’ve shared with you several times, I’ve had a real love-hate relationship with Instagram. (Often leaning a bit more towards the later.) For whatever reason, it’s just been something that has been hard for me to find balance with.

But is seems that after enough time passes, I start to think, “. . .okayyyyy, maybe I’ll give it a whirl again. . .” And no, not for any personal reasons. Really just for my audience that is more Instagram and less blog. But then that becomes the exact moment when I immediately retreat and decide that any thoughts of re-entering the world of social media are most definitely bad ideas. Until more time passes, and then I start to think more fondly of the former again. Which just in case you are curious, this whole scenario has basically been the subject of my thoughts lately, “. . .do it. . .don’t do it. . .do it Katie. . .don’t do it!”

Enter in Intentional Social Media Use.

While I was listening to a podcast last week during one of our daily long walks, I heard the idea of “intentional social media use” mentioned. Basically just the idea of being extremely thoughtful of how much time and energy you spend on different social media platforms throughout your day, and how it either contributes to your life or detracts from it. This idea definitely peaked my interests, and gave me some good food for thought.

I love sharing my life with you guys here on the blog, but I do often have thoughts of wanting to share more. Or maybe not necessarily more, but different. Yes, wanting to share different. The things that I would have normally shared on Instagram – little thoughts that I had, a new recipe that I tried, or just life reflections. Yes, in some ways I miss that kind of different, and I do feel interested in sharing it again. And so possibly implementing the idea of intentional social media use just might be the very thing that could make this all work for me.

But I won’t really know whether or not it would be right for me until I try it. Because I could try it, and feel great. But I could also try it out, and find myself feeling mentally drained as I have so many times before. It’s completely possible that no matter what kind of involvement or lack thereof I choose, I just might not be a social media kind of girl. So I guess that I’ll either have to just give it a shot, or intentionally let it all go once and for all.

Share your thoughts with me!

What are your thoughts on all of this? Do you find social media to be draining? Or is it a source of relaxation for you? Are you purposeful with how much time you spend on social media? Or do you find that certain times of the day work better for your mental health than others? I would love to hear your two cents, and what does or doesn’t work for you!