For my New Year's resolution I decided to give up social media. Granted I have not given it up for the entire year, but I have serious limited myself to social media as a whole. I have made stipulations to go by as to not being on there all the time. So far the rules are that I can only get on social media four days out of each month, but for the rest of the days... nothing. First I should say what I gave up social media wise. I was very into Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram so needless to say, I have deleted all the apps to not even be tempted to get on the social networks.

Not going to lie, at the beginning of the year, it was tough. With the new semester of college starting also it seemed like a conversation starter revolved around something that was seen on social media. Needless to say, I felt out of the group, almost as if I was not in the know meant I was not cool enough or something.

Granted it has been rough, I have noticed so much more in my surroundings and about people in general by keeping off social media. After not being on it for only about a month there is so much I have learned that I now almost refuse to get on social media even when my friends beg me to get back on. Do not get me wrong though, social networks are a great way to communicate if used properly, but sometimes it seems as if we just use social media to fill our time of boredom. I still get on there to this day, but from the little while that I have stayed off I really only limit myself to getting on mostly just Facebook to post to.

So here are the few things I have learned by giving up social media:

1. I am happier.

This may come as a weird idea from giving up social media, but I have been happier than I have been by giving up social media. I do not worry about who is posting what or what people are doing. The only people I focus on are my friends who are here in my life presently and me. There's no need to know about what our current crush interest is going to be near their phone to check the story we just posted to Snapchat or the fact of what awesome vacation one of our friends are on wishing we were there. I am happy actually taking in my surroundings and not knowing what others are doing. Granted just because I have social media doesn't mean I have to post on it, but having people not know what I am doing leads a sense of mystery to my life almost.

2. I notice my surroundings.

When I would get on social media the rest of the world was practically blocked out. I never paid much attention to what was going on around me while absorbed on my phone. Now I actually notice people and interactions between others. When I walk from class to class I make eye contact and smile towards people I pass instead of looking at my phone. I talk to people in my classes and to those in other environments. I see people all the time on phones and then think "How many are we passing up on who could become an important person in our lives because we never talked to them since our head was in our phone?" I take in nature also. I do not try to capture that perfect sunset for my Snapchat or my friend "twerking" (if that even what it was, ha) to have for a rain day. I keep my memory to bring up in stories and remember in my head instead of my phone taking up storage.

3. I talk at the dinner table.

This seems to be a big joke among waiters/waitresses of people being on dates or with friends, but yet on their phones the entire time while eating. I had no problem with interacting at the dinner table, but I see how rude it is when I am at dinner and people are on their phones. I see how much I repeat myself towards my friends when we are eating and how much I probably used to make people repeat themselves. The fact of being out with someone to eat means there should be interaction between everyone and not what someone is doing at college five hours away. Take in the company of your friends and family at the table because you do not know when you may be at lunch or dinner with them again.

4. There's no longer judging by social media.

Deny it all you want, but there are times when people creep on others to see what all they have posted. When you cannot judge from social media accounts, you get to learn about the person all on your own. You get to know that their favorite football team are the Green Packers from them personally than from a tweet about the game last week. There's something that can be said about someone who shares their interests and ideas with you instead of learning everything about them from networks. Knowing whether or not we would like a person or not from their account makes us judgmental within its self without giving them a chance.

5. The idea of having a perfect/aesthetic account.

Lets face it, we all want that perfect Instagram account or that hilarious Twitter account. Granted that is fine, but that does not mean there should be so many edited photos on Instagram that they no longer look like you. By trying to be "perfect" what happens to when people really meet you? By giving up social media, I have not worried about how I look in a photo since I probably won't even post it. I do not spend time in my day wondering what picture looks best to post. If I like it I should post it, but by not having social networks I do not even worry about which photo to post. After a while of not posting, I just post one photo every now and then that I love and feel best about without any edit needed.

6. Hours of my day are not wasted.

Realistically, how many hours a day was spent on social media? I used to spend at least maybe an hour every morning when first waking up checking all my media outlets. Then I would spend multiple hours at night looking through sites and not realizing how three hours of my life was involved with social media. I actually do productive tasks during the hours I would be on social media. I also do not get as distracted while doing homework with all those apps dinging and sending notifications.

7. The people who want to talk to me will.

One of the most common things I hear since giving up social media is why I gave up Snapchat. Some of my friends argue it's not technically social media like that of Twitter, Facebook, etc., but in a way it is. I can still see what other people are doing and what they are posting to their story. "But you communicate with people over Snapchat." As true as that may be, I notice that if someone wants to truly talk to me they will text/call me. There are so many more efficient ways to communicate with me than just that of Snapchat. Granted the app is awesome and you get some hilarious pictures from friends, but if a conversation needs to be held between someone and myself I would rather it be done through text/call. If they want to talk to me they will make the effort.
(Not going to lie.... Snapchat is the one social media app I miss most though)

I am not dissing social media in any way at all, so do not assume I am saying stop using social media completely because honestly I have not even given it up completely. I am just mentioning the decisions I have made in my life and all the things I have never noticed I was missing out on while on social media. If anything just go a day without social media.

There is a lot more in this world than what is on our newsfeed and/or story that just so happen to be right in front of us.