This is a bit of a record in my life, about 6 or so months after I left Instagram fully.

The Good

I don’t know how many among you can relate to this, but I was an addict. This wasn’t my first attempt at quitting, but this was certainly the most successful attempt.

Having no social media forces you to appreciate just how much time you really have in a day.

It’s boring.

I’ve found other pursuits, and I’ve developed a lot of nice strategies to fill the time that I think really adds to my life as a whole.

I’ve gotten back into reading again. Before I had an Instagram, I read 50 books in a year. After those numbers were barely even half.

Now the numbers aren’t that important as it is, but I believe there’s something to be said about what you pour your time into.

I read a lot now. I read expansive articles on whatever catches my fancy, I’m currently reading a really good science fiction novel, I have a book on Proofs And Refutations I’m carefully working through and a general confidence in my ability to just be able to be more patient.

Reading is a slow task, it demands a bit more from you. Having no easier ‘low-friction’ habit like Instagram to fall back to is very nice to give you just enough motivation to read.

For most of my life, I wasn’t the type of person to call anyone. I felt awkward on the phone, and it always felt annoying to have to deal with social interaction in that form.

This was a habit I truly stumbled into. I accidentally group called a friend group of mine around the time college first began. I then decided that maybe group calling isn’t a bad idea, and it wasn’t. It has slowly become one of the most important parts of my week. We get together, update each other about everyone else’s lives, goof around or just hang around and do nothing.

After I left social media, I realized I had more time to be able to do this now. I walk home everyday from the bus stop to my home, which is a solid 20-30 minute walk. I used to fill that time with music, but now it’s strictly calls. I call old friends I haven’t spoken to in a while, and also many close friends I keep in touch with often. It’s a very rewarding experience to have, where it’s just me and them and the conversation between us.

These calls have become deeply important to me. They sometimes end up being the best part of my day.

If someone is busy? That’s no issue, someone else will pick up. If no one does(which hasn’t happened yet) at least you’ve got your music.

You’d think no one wants to call anymore but everyone I’ve called has always responded positively to it, and I’ve had some great conversations I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It’s gotten to the point where some even expect the calls, and allocate time to it.

The Bad

I’ve become completely out of touch, very quickly. I don’t see any posts, which means that I have zero touch with people I’m close enough to care about, but not close enough to call and talk to or find out anything about.

I’m not saying texting.

It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to live with for now, the mental peace I feel without having the constant onslaught of psychologically engineered dopamine attacks.

I’m worried that this might be the only reason I get back onto social media. As my friend Nikhil said in his post on using Instagram,

After talking to several people in my friend circle, I’ve come to realize its value - if not for content or socializing, it’s still the one place where I can find everyone in my life - past, present or future. People you meet in college can greatly affect your life, and I don’t want to lose contact with everyone I’m not directly friends with simply because I didn’t add them on Instagram. It’s a universal way of keeping a line of communication open. tl;dr - preemptive networking.

It’s a great directory for the people on the periphery of your own life.

WhatsApp can only go so far. An Instagram account is so convenient to share. I can search someone and find them, it’s so easy.

I have to intentionally give out my number to people for them to remain in touch.

That’s a genuinely important thing that I am missing out on. I remain conflicted about my decision to leave Instagram for this reason.

I’ve come up with ways to cope with it for now, but it’s a severe limiting factor. I cannot compete with the sheer convenience Instagram provides to keep in touch with my peers.

All in all… it’s a net positive. I wish I knew a way to get the secondary social benefits of Instagram without directly using Instagram directly.