I removed the Instagram and Facebook apps from my phone yesterday. I wanted to do that as I’m moving toward de-cluttering my mind from my addictions to technology.
The first thing I noticed was this morning when I woke up and was lying in bed. I thought about reaching over and grabbing my phone to check the apps and I remembered I didn’t have them anymore. That was okay… I didn’t feel overly anxious about not having a reason to check my phone. But what struck me was the lack of “approval” I was going to be missing from people I don’t even really know.
My app-removal was going to affect my app-roval.
Sure, I only get maybe 40 to 50 likes on my Instagram posts and my Facebook posts will still be liked – I just don’t see them right away – but there was something disturbing about the idea that the absence of this meaningless thing, “likes” from strangers, was actually bothering me. I realized the fear of people not “liking” me, specifically on Instagram, was actually enough to cause me to consider putting it back on my phone! That showed me just how much my mind and self is tied to this non-tangible, non-eternal “cyber-thing.” That, in itself, is scary.