A Snapchat Detox: Why One Less App Might Give You Some Perspective
Snapchat ... where to begin?
I was looking at Kim K's Instagram feed the other day, and can safely say I've fallen in love with the aesthetic. It's fresh, blurry in a way that somehow mixes vintage polaroids with a feeling that her photographs fell into a puddle of murky water and came out faded in the best way. It's a new look. An interesting perspective, finally.
It got me thinking, what makes one rebrand themselves in such a way? Other than a supposed traumatic encounter in her case, which of course probably played a big part, my answer was the following: A thorough, and much needed social media detox.
I started Radical due to a love for writing. But with an online magazine come more social media accounts, more posts, more likes, more comments, and more inboxes. At the end of the day, this project is something I'm proud of so I love every aspect of it, but it led me to feel like I needed to cut out excess apps from my life.
I downloaded Snapchat during a grumpy Skype call with a friend of mine about two years ago. I was skeptical, as I usually am about these things, and didn't think I'd use it at all. He created the account for me, and convinced me to join one of the now most instantaneously addictive platforms online. I was hooked within a week.
The filters, diversity, personalization, global reach and entertaining element of it all. I even loved reading the Discover magazines when they came out, everyday on my commute to university.
Flash forward to now. A friend of mine a couple of weeks back told me she thought the app was somewhat toxic, at a time when I was beginning to think the same I asked why, and her answer made perfect sense. She gave me an analogy.
You're home sitting on the couch in your comfiest pjs with a cup of tea watching X series on TV; you're perfectly content. You open Snapchat, and suddenly a teeny tiny inkling of FOMO, of restlessness, of anxiety, of curiosity, of shock, of sadness, of confusion or of whatever it is that is triggered through false social perception creeps into your mind. And poof, the perfect zen moment dissipates into oblivion.
I use the app for entertainment, and honestly enjoy it very much half the time. It's great to see your friends and loved ones just simply living life. I've made a point to use it less though, because too much of a good thing can turn sour.
Hence the detox. Try it.
“There’s nothing that I’m doing that’s uncool.”
