No TikTok, no Twitter, no Facebook: Indonesians find peace through social media detoxing
Love and hate with the digital world as more people abstain from social media and online entertainment to regain their sense of self and mindfulness
Most of us came out of the pandemic a bit torn and tattered. Deprived of physical gatherings and exposed to uncertainties from continuously prolonged lockdowns and social restrictions, we turned to humanity’s technological advances whose arsenal encompasses an array of social media platforms, video conferencing systems and a deluge of entertainment from streaming services.
We fought hard against loneliness, but some were then left with another problem: an increased dependence on this said arsenal.
Compounded intensity
Cooped inside their respective houses for a good part of their time, people desperately yearned for connections to the outside world. Dreaming up moments where they could gather with friends and family without nagging uneasiness, the fear of unknowingly exposing loved ones with the sometimes-asymptomatic disease – or to catch it from others instead.
We fulfilled these yearnings through the internet: catching-up with friends over video conferencing platform Zoom or chatting with others through instant messaging services such as WhatsApp. We found solace in following each other’s Instagram feeds and tuning into their live videos. Instagram saw a 40 percent increase of users during the initial lockdown period, and by the beginning of 2023, there were 105.7 million Indonesians using the platform, accounting from the total of 167 million social media users (a drop from 2022’s 191 million users). Read More…
