Day 3: Social Media FOMO

I'm having some serious FOMO today.  One of the lovely ladies who is a member of SLAM Networking showed up for our open networking session with a super cute new haircut.  She told me she had put up a photo on social media, so I had missed it.  I was very happy to see her on our networking call, but it made me wonder - what else am I missing? 

Social media can be a double edge sword.  On one side you get to keep in touch with the people you love, see amazing photos of their lives, families, vacations, etc.  You get to keep in touch with people that you likely wouldn't if social media didn't exist.  Heck, I was able to reconnect with my BFF from grade school in another state!  

The other side of social media is the addiction to scrolling.  It's the hateful comments, the rudeness, the ugliness that can appear with the protection of being behind a screen with no true accountability. 

It's only day 3 and I've gone through some pretty intense anxiety the last couple of days.  Today, however, I have no anxiety.  It's a good feeling today.  Today I also got to meet virtually in the SLAM open networking session.  I left the house by 7:15 am to take Dexter to the groomer.  Then I had to head out of town to have some lab tests done.  Brian and I stopped at a little diner for breakfast.  My food looked so delicious and colorful, I couldn't help but take a photo of it! 

The problem was - after I took the photo above I realized...WHO am I going to show?  LOL  I couldn't post it on social media.  It's funny how I've become conditioned to do certain behaviors like photograph food and post it for everyone to see.   So I'm doing it here instead.  I know, I know.... haha

While I don't feel my issues with social media have to do with how often I post, but rather, how often I scroll for hours...and hours...and hours.  But it definitely has brought my attention to the need to post a lot.   I feel that going into April, while I love to share what I'm up to - I think I'll be more intentional when I post and not be as compulsive with telling you all EVERYTHING I'm up to.  I think a little mystery is good sometimes, right? 

Okay, so back to the FOMO (fear of missing out).  I realized all my social media friends are posting about their lives, their families, their successes and losses.  And I suddenly had this feeling of - man, I am missing ALL of that.  It made me sad for a moment and I questioned if this month off was the right thing to do.  Thankfully, I reminded myself that if there is news or updates that are important for me to know - I have no doubt someone will message, call, text, or email me.  I felt better when I realized I don't need to know everything.  THIS was when I realized WHY I scroll.  It's the feeling of wanting to know everything, see everyone's posts, interact as much as I can.  I want the people I'm friends will to know I see them and care.  So I scroll and scroll...and scroll thinking there is something else I need to see.  It's exactly what the social media giants want us to do.  

Do you remember coming to the end of your feed?  I do.  I remember a time when I (reluctantly) made the switch from MySpace to Facebook.  I remember there was a time when you'd get to the end of the updates and statuses and you had to refresh your feed to see anything new that was posted.  It was easier to walk away from your screen.  But now, you could scroll for eternity I think.  I have totally fallen into that trap. 

I'm just happy that I'm no longer feeling anxious.  I'm already feeling more energized.  I have increased my daily steps (per my fitbit) by 4000 steps a day!  What???  

I sure do miss all of you out there who are checking in on this blog.  I have to admit I was pretty shocked to see there were so many blog visits when I looked at my analytics.  I guess I didn't think but maybe 10 people might be checking in on how I'm doing.   But to see hundreds stopping in to read this....wow! Ya'll are amazing!  I wish there was a way for you to leave comments here, but that would somewhat defeat the purpose haha and I'd end up scrolling through all your comments.  

I want you to know that the fact that you are reading this - I feel incredibly grateful for YOU.   You rock! You da shit!   Thank you!  - Wendy