Plug Out -- How to actually get off of social media

There's a lot of internet bullshit I've come across recently on platforms like YouTube or in the news about tips and tricks for getting off social media, what happens when someone gets off, and whether it is a good or bad idea to get off. If I get off of it, will it lead to social isolation? Will I feel left out? Will I miss out on something? Will I become an enlightened monk after leaving? Will I finally be able to think for longer than 15 seconds straight? Will I have zero anxiety? Will I not be addicted? Will I become a new person? Will all my problems be solved? 

These are just some of the many sentiments and questions that I see floating around. I realize that there is some demand for guidance on how to get off social media, and that as people use these products, there is also a desire to leave them, yet they fail to do so. 

I've been off of social media for the past 2 years, if you don't include YouTube, Letterboxd, and Chess.com, and I have no real desire to go back. Here's essentially what I did, and my hope is that this might be a useful procedure for anyone who actually wants to get off social media, rather than just hearing about what happens when you do.

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1-- Write out in a journal or notebook what you feel and what you think about social media, whatever those feelings and thoughts may be. It could include beliefs you have about social media, experiences you've had using it, or why you want to get off. This doesn't have to be a one-time event; you can spend as much time as you want and write as broadly as you want, as much as you want.

2-- On your computer, get a website blocker on your browser. I use Firefox and the website blocker extension BlockSite. It is also available on Chrome. I will be writing this in the context of BlockSite because it's what I know best. I just got it because it was the first one I saw on the list of website blocker extensions—I am not affiliated with this product at all.

3-- Open a Google Doc. Title it "So I want to get on to social media..." and place it at the very top of the page in a large, bold font. Make it shareable and viewable by everyone.

4-- Write in it what you think are disadvantages to using social media. 

5-- Write in it what you think are advantages to using social media. 

6-- Write in it why (1) those disadvantages are larger than those advantages, and (2) there is a way to reap the benefits of those advantages through alternatives that also avoid the disadvantages.

7-- Go back to the top of the Google Doc and write out a summary of 4, 5, and 6, one paragraph for each, however long you want each one to be. Right below that summary, write out what it is that you think you could be doing instead of going on to social media, and make that a bulleted list.

8-- On BlockSite, go to the settings and enter the social media URLs that you want to block. 

9-- On BlockSite, paste the Google Doc URL into the "Site Redirect" feature. 

10-- Save the settings and exit BlockSite. Just to test, click on a link to a blocked site and see if it redirects you to your Google Doc. 

Format the Google Doc however makes sense to you.

After you complete steps 1-10, continue writing in a notebook or journal your thoughts on social media if you ever get any.

For my phone, I just deleted my social media accounts and the apps and never got back on.

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What this did for me was constantly remind me of my reasons for getting off social media at the very moment I wanted to get on, and what I could do with my time instead. By redirecting myself to that Google Doc and being instantly met with not a social media post but my own thinking about how social media made me feel, what it is that makes me want to get off of it, and how the benefits of social media are acquirable through other means, I think after enough repetitions, I had little to no desire to get back on. I remembered all the time I spent journaling and reflecting on what these products are, what they did to me, and how there are way better things I could do with my time. Being rushed with the memories of all that thinking and reasoning instantly after clicking a social media link felt very powerful to me.

Since then, I find myself always challenging myself when I think about the potential advantages of getting on social media. Is there a disadvantage to it? Is there an advantage to it? Is that disadvantage larger than that advantage? And is there a way of acquiring that advantage through another avenue that still avoids those disadvantages? It's an immanent debate for me and not a one-time event. But if you really believe there are logically sound and argumentatively rigorous reasons why social media use is undesirable, I think one side of the debate might generally win most of the time.