It's been exactly 58 days since I left social media, and I'm certain I will never come back

I was invited to a party on the 22nd of December. The only condition was that you had to be off social media for at least 30 days.<br><br>I had never been to one of these parties before, but I knew that I was going to go. It had been my birthday wish for a while. No Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Chambers, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn, or Pinterest.<br><br>I was going to be off social media for 30 days. My plan was to eventually go back online after the party, but after having experienced an incredibly improved quality of life for the past 2 months, I'm certain I will never go back.<br><br>And I'm not alone. This may be the most unexpected thing I've learned in the last 58 days: people are leaving social media for good, and I'm starting to believe that it's only a matter of time until you'll join too.<br><br>I've been running Amino for years, and I've seen this happening time after time. I've seen hundreds of people leave social media for good, and I've been asking them the same question for years: "Are you going to go back?" And 9 out of 10 times, the answer has been a very clear "no."<br><br>It's not that people don't like social media, or that they hate it. It's more that they don't want to be a slave to social media anymore, and therefore they decide to leave for good.<br><br>As the owner of a social media platform, I've had to come to terms with a hard truth: social media isn't for everyone. This realization has been a game-changer for me, but I believe that it's essential for our future. We need to make it possible for people to leave social media if that's what they want.<br><br>In order for that to happen, we need to understand why people are leaving social media, and we need to address the underlying reasons. In my experience, there are eight reasons why people are leaving social media:<br><br>#1 It's addictive<br><br>#2 It's a waste of time<br><br>#3 It's making them feel crap<br><br>#4 It's where drama happens<br><br>#5 It's a distraction<br><br>#6 It's a way to spy on people<br><br>#7 It's a way to sell things <br><br>#8 It's a way for companies and governments to manipulate people<br><br>During my 58-day social media detox, I've experienced the upside of all of these downsides. I've never felt better.<br><br>And I'm not alone. I've experienced this with hundreds of people in our community, and it's something that I think will become mainstream in the near future.<br><br>We've been taught that social media is a necessary evil. We need social media to survive. But I've learned that's not true. You don't need social media to survive, and you certainly don't need social media to thrive.<br><br>In fact, it's the other way around: you need to thrive in order to survive. And that's exactly what's happening. More and more people are leaving social media for good, and they're thriving offline.<br><br>When I ask people how they feel after they left social media, they almost always answer with words like "amazing", "incredible", "empowered", and "liberated". And when I ask them what their highlights have been, they talk about things like:<br><br>* Learning to play chess<br>* Hiking in the mountains<br>* Meditating on the beach<br>* Playing basketball<br>* Going to concerts<br>* Having coffee with friends<br>* Reading books<br>* Writing poetry<br>* Doing yoga<br>* Cooking healthy food<br><br>They talk about experiences that they'll never forget. Things that are truly special. And I believe that we're going to see a lot more of this in the future.<br><br>Social media has been able to trick us into believing that it's where we want to spend our time, but I believe that we're starting to wake up. We're starting to understand that social media is a platform where we're being exploited.<br><br>Our attention is being stolen. Our personal data is being sold. And we're being served ads that try to manipulate us into buying things that we don't need. And at the end of the day, we're left feeling empty and isolated.<br><br>But I believe that people are going to realize that they don't need social media to connect with each other. We're going to see that social media isn't truly social, and that we don't need it to live happy and fulfilling lives.<br><br>Right now, we're still being tricked into believing that social media is essential, but I believe that's going to change soon. As people are starting to leave social media for good, I think we'll see a shift in the way we look at social media.<br><br>I think we'll start to see social media for what it truly is: a platform where we can connect with each other, but where we also get exploited. I believe that we'll start to understand that the benefits don't outweigh the costs, and that there are better ways to connect with each other.<br><br>Obviously, social media isn't inherently bad. Just like a knife isn't inherently good or bad. It depends on how we use it. But unfortunately, social media has become a tool that's used to exploit people, and I believe that more and more people will realize this in the near future.<br><br>If I had to guess, I would say that social media will eventually become similar to how we look at smoking in today's society. We used to believe that smoking was cool, but we've come to realize that it's actually really bad for us.<br><br>Now that we know what smoking does to our bodies and minds, we don't promote it anymore. And I believe that the same thing is going to happen with social media. Right now, we're still in the process of understanding the consequences of excessive social media use.<br><br>But once we truly realize what social media does to our minds and bodies, I believe that more and more people will start to leave social media for good. I don't think social media is going to disappear completely, but I do think that it's going to lose the status it has today.<br><br>Right now, social media is this giant platform that's a big part of our lives. We're basically being forced to use it, and we're being tricked into believing that our lives depend on it. But I believe that's going to change.<br><br>I believe that social media is going to become something that we use occasionally. Something that we use when we need to connect with someone, but it's not something that we'll use excessively.<br><br>It's not something that we'll touch every hour. And it's definitely not something that we'll use to waste hours upon hours every day. I believe that we'll use it more mindfully, but I also believe that a lot of people will leave social media for good.<br><br>And that's what I've done. I've left social media for good. This will be my last post on Reddit. I'm leaving social media because I don't need it, and I don't want it. I don't need social media to connect with others, and I don't want to be exploited by social media companies.<br><br>I don't want my data to be stolen. I don't want to be served ads that try to manipulate me into buying something. I don't want to be a slave to social media, and I don't want to feel empty and isolated.<br><br>I want to live a real life. I want to connect with real people. I want to have real experiences, and I want to be a part of something real. And I think that more and more people are going to want the same thing.<br><br>I think we're going to see a shift away from social media and towards real life connections. I think we're going to see people engaging in hobbies and activities that enrich their lives. I think we're going to see more people talking about their mental health.<br><br>And I think we're going to see a new, healthier way of living. I really do. I believe that social media has been a temporary solution to a problem that we didn't know how to solve, but I think we're starting to figure out how we can solve it.<br><br>We don't need social media to connect with each other. There are other ways to make friends. There are other ways to get to know people. And there are other ways to connect with others.<br><br>We don't need social media to get what we want. There are other ways to get our needs met. We don't need social media to survive, and we certainly don't need social media to thrive.<br><br>I'm certain I will never go back to social media, and I think more and more people are going to join me in the years to come.