I haven't used social media for 5 years. And why I am starting now.

For the past 5 years I've built up a wall between myself and social media. A wall that has protected me from the ugly side of social media apps. I was fed up with:

• Time wasting
• Comparison with others
• Being distracted from 'the moment'
• The need for external validation

So, brick by brick, I built up a wall. It started with 'time limits' on certain apps and eventually progressed to deleting almost all social media apps from my phone. I let the 'messaging' apps stick around, as I found these were genuinely useful for communication.

This has been great in many ways. I've found myself less anxious and feeling more grounded as a result.

However, there's a growing part of me that feels disconnected from the big beautiful communities that social media is home to, and that so many people seem to enjoy. And community is important to me. More now than ever that I'm trying to build a community around my startup, Protolyst.

I've realised that the wall I have built is now unfortunately blocking:

• Old friends
• New friends 👋
• A stronger sense of personal identity
• A community for my startup

So as of today, I will brick by brick begin to bring down the wall that I have spent 5 years building.

So if you'd like to show me what social media's really like, I'd love to say hey!
Connect with me on twitter or instagram (eek its been so long since I've used insta!)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RicJBarnes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ricbarnes22

If anyone has any tips for being active on social media without feeling like it intrudes on your life, I'd love to hear!