Managing my love\/hate relationship with social media
I've started a blog!
Why, you may ask?
Well, I'm writing this off the back of a 2 week self-imposed break from Instagram and Facebook and oh my gosh... I feel rejuvenated. Like a phoenix that has been birthed from the ashes (but a bit less dramatic). It gave me time to think about what I want to do and what I want to create, but there's a bit of history to it all. So hang on with me here while I explain...
I have had various social media accounts since I was probably 12 or 13. Who remembers Bebo?! I think my evolution went Bebo - Myspace - Tumblr - Facebook - Snapchat - Instagram (but don't come at me if I'm getting the timing wrong). So I've been using social media in one from or another for the last 19 ish years of my life. I have existed longer with it than without it. And have I ever taken a 2 week break..? I'm not sure I have!
& then in 2023 I started my affiliate marketing business - a key component of that being a requirement to utilise social media. "Great!", I thought. I'm on it all the time anyway - I might as well find a way to get paid for it!
And it has been great. I've improved my finances, given myself an option that means it's unlikely I'll ever have to return to a job outside of my home unless I want to, and beyond that I've been part of creating an amazing community of women all working online - and been blessed with some wonderful friendships.
But *having* to be on social media definitely has taken its toll. I'm sure we've all heard about the various disadvantages of using social media so I'm not going to wax lyrical, but I've found that recently, the requiement to get onto Instagram even when I've really not been ~feeling it~ has not helped my mental health.
On a little walk during our break - only 3km but it took an hour! Babywearing is so hard (but so good).
So I decided to take a break! I popped a story up that I was having some time off from Insta, and deleted the Instagram & Facebook apps from my phone. I imagined that it would only be for a few days but a few days passed and I still had zero desire to get back on there. In the past when I've attempted to reduce social media use I've found myself logging in via web browsers to peek at what was going on, but I didn't feel the need to do that at all this time round. And a few days turned into a couple of weeks.
After those first few days of not thinking about social media I felt ideas popping into my head about what I want to contribute to this online space and how I should be doing it. For the first time in a good whilst I felt creative again!
I'm super proud of the Instagram account that I've grown so far - my life has changed really quite dramatically in the nearly 2 years that I've had my @meganegeorgia account and I've essentially used it as a short-form blog to share what's been going on and what I've learnt along the way. I've made some wonderful connections and I'm diligent about consistently deleting followers who don't fit the mold of the people that I want to connect with.
But I'm not a particularly good photo-taker or content-creator. My brain does not have the ability to churn out endless reels to meet the expectations of the algorithm that require you to get top reach on that little app.
And I've craved *this*. A space to dump my thoughts and feelings in longer form, that doesn't require a magnifying glass to read when I try to do it on a story!
SO - Meggy's Bloggy Bits has been born. And if you got this far, you are present at the birth. Congratulations!!
I've had several blogs in the past which have served various purposes (the one I kept on my year abroad is still online, although apparently all the photos got deleted ahha) and this feels like the right step for right now.
More intimate than social media. More permanant than a newsletter. And a way to unleash my creativity in a way that better suits me, currently. With an added bonus of actually being able to use landscape photos!!!
Anywho, I have LOTS to say and LOTS of posts already planned. I'll probably be writing them at 6am in the dark while the baby is still asleep, so please forgive typos. I hope you'll join me for this next evolution of my journey!
HEY, I’M MEGAN!
A 30-something muddling my way through motherhood, relationships, running an online business, a seemingly mutually exclusive love for getting outdoors and binge-watching tv shows... and attempting to maintain some semblance of sanity on top of it all.
JOIN MY MAILING LIST