I have been using Instagram and Twitter for nearly a decade. After reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, I decided to practice using social media in a more intentional way so I started monitoring all of my social media activities and values they provide. What I realized was that Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter create almost no values for me at all. It was such a surprise because I put so much effort to take care of them in the past. For example, I tried my best to curate almost all of my tweets, try to post the best photos I could on Instagram; but in fact, I received almost no values from them.

As a result, I removed all social media apps from my phone and practiced using them via my computer’s web browser instead to reduce the amount of time I spend on each service. I also tweeted a few and posted a couple photos on Instagram since that time but again, I received no values in return! Finally I made my choice and signed out from my accounts even from web browsers. I wanted to see if not using these social media services have effects on my life and the results was a big NO! After quitting Twitter and Instagram nothing changed. I still in touch with my friends and family via Whatsapp and if I want to share a photo with them, I just post it to our family groups.

To be able to stay tuned with the latest news I care about, I installed an RSS reader on my computer and subscribed to my favorites websites and blogs and I usually check them once every other day.

It’s important to understand that by using social media, you’re spending your time and companies behind those services are selling your time to other companies like advertisers. They make a lot of money out of your attention and I believe it’s important for everyone to understand what is going on behind the scenes. I highly recommend you to reconsider your social media consumption and decide how you want your time to be spent because all creatures only live once.