RENEE ONQUE: I’m on day 14 without social media—here’s what I miss the most

Two weeks ago, I decided to delete my social media apps and commit to a prolonged period away from digital communities.

I arrived at the decision the same day that I interviewed George Jerjian, author of “Dare to Discover Your Purpose: Retire, Refire, Rewire” who strongly advocates for time to disconnect, especially after going on a 30-day silent retreat.

Jerjian and Weiting Liu, founder of Arc.Dev whose been to eight silent retreats, described the way their experiences at retreats allowed them to check in with themselves, develop better emotional regulation and connect more deeply with their surroundings.

“You’re no longer taking in external stimuli, and that kind of forces you to start to look deeper internally,” Liu told CNBC Make It.

My experience without social media has been much the same. From gazing out my window and people-watching to consistently finding time to stretch and do yoga (which I struggled with before my hiatus), this social media break has certainly benefited me.

I’m more present when I spend time with my loved ones and experience less distraction when I engage in my hobbies like reading novels and doing word search puzzles. But there are some things about social media that I miss.

Here’s what I’m missing the most during my social media fast

1. Staying in the know

I actually thought I’d enjoy knowing less about what’s going on in the world during my time away from social media. Wrong!

I’ve come to realize that I’m usually the deliverer of breaking news to my loved ones, so much so that many of them assume that I already know what’s going on. But now that I’m away from social media, I’ve found myself learning about current events much later than everybody else.

Trying to keep up with conversations about what’s happening has proven to be very difficult for me these days. Of course, I know everything that I should know from reading articles daily for work, but it’s the little things that I’d also like to know, my niche interests, that I feel I’m missing out on.

2. Daily interactions with my social media friends

Most of us have acquaintances that we connect with on social media and not anywhere else. I don’t even have a cell phone number for many of my social media friends, so I haven’t been able to chat with them about TV shows or our new favourite songs.

It’s something that I didn’t expect to miss as much as I do, but as someone who lives alone, it makes up many of the social interactions that I have outside of work. Of course, I have friends and family who I’m in touch with often, but with busy schedules, we don’t speak every day. Or we chat on social media.

I do appreciate one of my closest friends who has checked in with me daily so we can update each other on what’s going on in our lives. She even screen-shared her Instagram account to show me the pictures she’s posted since I’ve been offline; she wanted me to get the same effect that I would have had if I was on the app.

3. Sharing little moments that actually matter to me

Not being present enough and experiencing much of the world from behind the lens of my phone was a major deciding factor for the start of my social media fast. “The pressure to share even the most insignificant moments of my day, instead of actually just living them, had become incredibly overstimulating,” I wrote just a week ago.

Yet, I’ve found that my camera roll has been a lot more bare lately. I miss documenting the brief moments of my day like the heart shape in my coffee and the sunsets that look almost painted.

Of course, I can always take a photo using my phone camera without posting it to Instagram, but there’s something about sharing those moments with my friends there that makes it all a bit more exciting. I do still capture the beauty that I find in the wild, but I miss sharing it.

I still plan to stay off of social media for another week, and I’m not counting down the days. But I have learned that social media does serve a purpose in my life and with balance, it can be a positive tool for me.