So, it’s already October 1st (yikes!), and with the current fad of ‘rebranding’ months for various causes, I’ve decided to participate in STOPtober this month.  The only problem? I don’t smoke!

Taking it at a broader angle, STOPtober, can also be about crushing ANY habit that is proving bad for you, and not just cigarettes – I think that the NHS has missed a trick here.

My bad habit that I wish to break, without a doubt, is my frequent use of social media.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my social media contacts more than many people who I know in real life, but recently I’ve found that it’s become more of an effort rather than a ‘hobby’, and, to use an example, after my prescription post, I ended up having 4 mini-twitter ‘heated debates’ in about a 12 hour period – the end result being conversations that actually really really wound me up in real life/comments that I took very personally. I’m really pleased that my post provoked opinion, as intended, and so these conversations are absolutely just an example, and not a cause. That said, when elements of the Internet start to spill in to your home life, it’s a sign to step back I think.

Of course, it’s not just this, and I’ve been thinking of it for a while, as there are various other angles to social media and how it can sometimes make you feel, especially when you invest your life quite openly on it, as I think that I do, it’s sometimes hard when you don’t feel that you always get something back for those efforts. Simply, I’ve decided that the internet is having an adverse effect on how I am feeling in my ‘real life’ and I’m planning on stepping away for a bit to break the habit.

That’s not to say that I won’t still post occasionally, for example, I’m off to see LIZA on an E tonight, and will be reviewing that come the morning, and I will still probably post a few pictures from Disneyland, where I’m off to on Thursday, but by-and-by, I’m not going to be checking Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets. I’ll probably still flick through Instagram as I like pictures of pretty lads obvs!!! 😉 ha!

It’s not an attention thing, by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just a ‘me’ thing – with everything that I have going on at the moment with my studies, health and other stuff, I just really need to be selfish and focus on myself for a while.

I’m 28 now, and I’ve spent around 15 years of my life ‘giving’ to social media – that says it all really!

The main thing that I want to stress is that I’m not shutting out friends that I have contact with via social media. I’m always available via email and text, so please, don’t take it personally/be a stranger!!