ON WEALTH || Here's Why Unplugging From Social Media Could Make You Wealthier
You think you need to be online constantly.
Or what?
Believe me, if you disconnected for a week and just put on a vacation responder, most people won't care. Many people won't even notice.
So, why do we still believe we need to be constantly connected? It's because we are addicted to the ego-affirming machine of social media. Well, it's only ego-affirming if you've managed to get the engagement and followers you desire. Some people think that once you hit 10K followers, they'll be happy, but just like with everything else in human nature, we only want more when we hit our arbitrary goals. That is unless you learn how to tame your addiction.
My big claim is that if you can unplug freely from social media, it will make you wealthier.
What do you mean? You ask. Are you saying the time I spend on Instagram or TikTok could be used more effectively? Well, that's easy.
If we spend less time buying into these make-believe fantasies Influencers construct online, we would spend less money trying to build the same thing for our social profile. Comparison is the thief of joy, yet in the addictive social media landscape, we are constantly triggered to spend more in order to mirror what others are doing or buying.
If you see several of your online acquaintances or content creators you follow going on luxurious vacations, you’ll feel like you’re missing out.
Here's how social media could trigger you to spend more money than you originally budgeted. You see a food influencer visiting a new restaurant, and you go there the following weekend to take photos and videos to post on social media. You know a lifestyle influencer spending her weekend on a speedboat and think, "Oh, wouldn't it be nice if I also did that?" and you overspend to rent the speedboat to enjoy the day out with a few friends. You think, "I can always make this money back, but I'll never be 25 again on a speedboat with my friends." Actually, yes, you can always get on a speedboat when you can afford it. The problem is that people are triggered by not sharing the same lifestyle as others they see on social media, and the act is driven by comparison rather than true enjoyment. Of course, most of us understand this, but few humans are rational enough to limit their desires and pleasures or tame their egos.
Try it, get off social media for a few weeks and see what happens. Do you really need that Louis Vuitton bag even though it'll cost you six months of savings? What about that vacation that'll set you back another six months' worth of savings? You'll see that when your ego doesn't feel compelled to compare, you enjoy much more peace, quiet, and gratitude and save more in your bank account. What's not to love about that?
