Screens Down, Eyes Up: My Departure from Instagram Stories

In our hyper-connected world, where the distinction between the public and the private is becoming increasingly blurred, I have consciously decided to disconnect. I have pondered the weight of this choice, deliberating on why I ceased producing Instagram Stories, and I believe it to be rooted in an earnest desire to foster change, a change that aligns more closely with the values I hold dear.

Our digital lives often teeter on the fine line between convenience and intrusion, between visibility and vulnerability. For a long time, I remained committed to documenting my experiences, using social media as a vessel to communicate, inform, and inspire. But with time, I found this practice not only tiresome but also inherently distracting. The ritualistic pull to capture, edit, and upload was draining. It began to feel as though my phone had evolved into an extension of my body, always on guard, always ready to capture the moment.

But it wasn’t just the physical demand that began to exhaust me—it was the mental strain too. Every story required hours of editing, each second carefully curated to engage my audience. And this investment of time inadvertently began to displace the time spent with my family. The fervor to feed the ever-hungry algorithm began to eclipse the invaluable, fleeting moments of presence with my wife and children.

The effects were not only personal; I began noticing the profound contradiction between my actions and my values. A staunch advocate of leading by example, I found my constant attachment to the phone to be increasingly incompatible with the lessons I wanted to instill in my children. By allowing myself to be consumed by social media, I inadvertently opened the doors to a world I desired to protect my children from—a world that could potentially strip them of their innocence prematurely.

The more profoundly I dug into this realization, the more a shameful feeling started to take hold. The discomfort of asking my children to wait while I finished a post was a jarring wake-up call. Was I setting an unhealthy precedent for them? Was I teaching them that it was acceptable to dismiss an earnest request for attention, to prioritize the virtual over the real?

The potential implications of this on the health of my family and the development of my children’s minds were impossible to ignore. As parents, we are entrusted with the responsibility of guiding our children’s growth, of navigating the potentially treacherous waters of the digital world for them, and it became clear that this included not just controlling their exposure, but also modeling healthy digital behavior.

Another significant concern was that of privacy and safety. Social media’s potential to expose our children to nefarious characters without our knowledge or consent, particularly in light of the alarming reports that the Instagram algorithm promotes pedophilia networks, was a stark reminder of the dangers of indiscriminate sharing. Therefore, the decision to limit the exposure of my children’s lives on these platforms felt less like a choice and more like a duty.

This shift away from my digital sharing routine doesn’t undermine the positives that my vlogging adventure has yielded. It has served as a platform to test my ideas, refine my purpose, and interact with a community that shares my values. It was a period of my life that allowed me to champion the health and wellness of the family unit, and to advocate for a better future for our children.

However, now armed with these insights, it feels right to close this chapter and shift my focus to the tangible. To create the change I have long championed, the change that prioritizes the real over the virtual, the private over the public. It’s time to move away from the performative and lean more into the impactful.

To everyone who has journeyed with me during this period, I extend my heartfelt gratitude. While the medium may change, my mission remains steadfast— to improve the health and well-being of families and children, ensuring they carry the torch of improvement for future generations. As we navigate this ever-changing digital landscape, let’s continue to foster authentic connection, mindful interaction, and conscious growth, albeit in a different, more meaningful way.

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