I deleted all my social media and made a website

Summary

In this video, Lauren explains why she deleted all her social media and created a website as a more meaningful alternative. She discusses the mental health effects, time-wasting, and addiction that social media fosters, along with the fears that held her back from deleting it, such as losing connections and memories. Lauren emphasizes the creative freedom, long-term project potential, and personal growth benefits of having a website, particularly for artists. She also shares a tour of her website and new communication methods. Ultimately, she encourages others to consider the benefits of a website while rethinking their relationship with social media.

Takeaways

• 😀 Deleting social media can have significant positive impacts on mental health, reducing issues like depression, time-wasting, and addictive behavior.
• 😀 Fear of missing out (FOMO) is one of the primary reasons people hesitate to delete social media, as it creates a sense of losing connections and memories.
• 😀 Non-attachment, a concept rooted in Buddhism, can help overcome the fear of losing people by teaching us to let go of unnecessary past connections.
• 😀 Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence can provide comfort during the process of loss, reminding us that life is cyclical and that we can regain lost experiences and people.
• 😀 Memories can be preserved outside of social media by using alternative methods such as journaling, creating YouTube videos, or capturing moments through texts and calls.
• 😀 Social media can overload artists with inspiration, leading to a lack of time for reflection and original creative processes. Focusing on personal ideas can foster more meaningful art.
• 😀 A personal website offers complete creative freedom, unlike social media, which restricts creativity with preset formats like Instagram's square posts.
• 😀 Websites are long-term projects that allow personal growth and learning new skills, such as coding, which can be valuable for both personal and professional development.
• 😀 Artists can regain control over their creative output by removing the influence of social media validation, focusing on their work for its own sake rather than for likes or comments.
• 😀 Lauren’s personal website serves as a creative space for her to share her art and writing, without the pressure of social media's validation system, and she encourages others to create their own websites.
• 😀 Even though Lauren doesn't rely on social media anymore, she still seeks to maintain connections through methods like Discord and Pinterest, demonstrating that online communities can thrive outside of traditional social platforms.

Q & A

Why did Lauren delete all of her social media?

Lauren deleted her social media primarily due to the negative impact it had on her mental health, the addictive nature of social media, and its tendency to substitute real-life experiences. She also felt that social media wasted her time and distracted her from being present in her actual life.

What was holding Lauren back from deleting her social media at first?

The main reason holding Lauren back was FOMO (fear of missing out), particularly the fear of losing connections with people she had met during her childhood, especially since she had moved multiple times. Her social media profiles were the only way to keep in touch with many of these people.

How did Lauren overcome her fear of losing connections when deleting social media?

Lauren overcame her fear by practicing non-attachment, a concept from Buddhism, which involves letting go of things that no longer serve you. She also embraced the idea of 'eternal recurrence' from Nietzsche, which helped her realize that life is a constant loop, and she would always find meaningful connections again, despite feeling like she was losing them initially.

What does Lauren mean by 'eternal recurrence' and how does it relate to her decision?

Eternal recurrence, according to Nietzsche, is the idea that your life will repeat itself endlessly. For Lauren, this concept helped her understand that the people and experiences she felt she was losing due to deleting social media would eventually come back into her life, encouraging her to embrace the present rather than cling to the past.

How did Lauren address her fear of losing memories tied to social media?

Lauren acknowledged that deleting social media meant losing a time capsule of her life. However, she proposed a solution: saving all her past posts and interactions, and finding alternative ways to capture and remember memories, such as through journaling, calling friends, or making YouTube videos.

Why was Lauren concerned about losing inspiration by deleting social media?

Lauren was concerned that by deleting social media, she would lose access to a major source of artistic inspiration, particularly Instagram. However, she realized that social media often overloads users with inspiration and that the best ideas come from being present and allowing time for personal reflection and creativity.

What is Lauren’s perspective on using social media for inspiration, especially for artists?

Lauren believes that social media can be detrimental to the creative process because it bombards artists with too many external influences, making it harder for them to come up with original ideas. She argues that over-reliance on social media for inspiration diminishes the rewarding experience of coming up with ideas on one's own.

Why does Lauren prefer having a website over using social media to share her artwork?

Lauren prefers a website because it offers complete creative freedom without the constraints of social media platforms. She values the ability to display her work exactly how she envisions it, without being restricted by pre-set layouts or algorithms designed to maximize engagement.

What long-term benefits does Lauren see in creating and maintaining a website?

Lauren sees her website as a long-term project that she can continually improve and personalize over time. She also views it as an opportunity to learn new skills, such as coding, and to create something meaningful that reflects her personal growth and creative journey.

How does Lauren view social media in terms of social validation and its impact on artists?

Lauren believes that social media distorts the purpose of creating art by turning it into a quest for social validation, as artworks are judged based on likes and comments. She feels that a website offers a more authentic space for sharing art, as it removes the need for external validation and helps artists focus on their personal creative expression.