WHAT AM I MISSING OUT ON?

 Its been 2 months without social media. I have been on this sabbatical through a carefully curated conscious decision. Just seeing people holding their phones in their hands, or putting it on the table or seeing their eyes glued to the screen makes me uncomfortable nowadays. Digital zombies gluttoning on their dopamine hits and losing touch with time, space and reality. I know it because I was one of them.

This is not the first time I have been off social media. Sometimes, I wonder what I might be missing out on when the entire world, especially the people around me are so engrossed in it. What am I actually missing out on? It is a subject of deep introspection.

Did I miss my friends and relatives on facebook? No.

I am still connected to my closest friends and relatives through other means. They haven't forgotten that I exist and they actually reach out to me in other ways. No close personal relationships have been negatively impacted by my absence from social media. 

Do I miss their updates? No.

I don't see the point of knowing everything about everyone close to me, even if he/she is my best friend. Relationships are formed through shared ideas, moments, beliefs, and memories and not through constantly updating each other about one's life. This has never been more clear to me. Human relationships have lasted for centuries without constantly updating each other about our lives and they will continue to do so.

What I am actually missing:

I miss some breaking news and viral moments. I am the last to know if a celebrity got locked up in jail or if there was a landslide on the other side of the country. There is a latency in the way I get updated about current events. However, the latency is doing me only good. Unless it's some life altering news about a nuclear attack or an impending hurricane, the latency will not kill me. And since everyone around me is already hooked on their devices fueled by their fear of missing out on the breaking news, I will get updated in one way or the other from one person or the other. This instantaneous update is the only thing I am missing and I think it's for the good.

Now I am just questioning myself. When my life is better without social media and I don't really miss out on anything without it; what was the point of being on it in the first place? 

I want to voluntarily miss out on the minor conveniences offered by social media (which social media tycoons try to sell as extremely important) so that I don't miss out on my actual life.

Note- Youtube is as worse as facebook, instagram, tiktok and snapchat even though it is more virtuous than the others. It's time to watch your Youtube activity as well.