Why I Deleted Social Media For Good
June 6, 2025– the morning of our four year wedding anniversary. I woke up, reached for my phone, and opened Instagram for the last time.
Ever since my son was born in May 2023, I’d wondered what it might look like to delete social media— not just for a short break, but for good.
Something about having kids and growing older makes you realize how fleeting and precious time really is. You want the seconds to stand still when you’re holding your baby asleep on your chest, begging that the rhythm of their breathing gets tattooed on your heart forever.
You want to remember every curve of their chubby cheeks, the sound of their first belly laughs, and the way they light up when Daddy walks in the room. You want their first steps etched into your memory with such a succinctness and clarity so as to be relived in full color at a moments notice.
Taking an Honest Look at My Habits
After having my daughter in December 2024, I started taking a serious audit of my life. Where was my time going— and was I using it wisely? Would I remember these early years as being fully present with my babies, or would I look back with regret that I’d spent them with my face buried in a screen while my children grew up?
I realized a huge portion of my time was being swallowed by the vortex of mindless scrolling. It wasn’t productive or uplifting. I wasn’t contributing or creating— just endlessly consuming.
Attempts at time limits, passwords, and internal boundaries didn’t work. Maybe it was my all-or-nothing personality, but I couldn’t just scroll “a little” to unwind. I’d blow past every time limit with the really convincing argument that I deserved to relax after a long day of tending to two under two.
But it wasn’t helping me rest at all.
The Truth About Mindless Scrolling
As I took stock of my life, I realized scrolling had become a dangerous habit. I noticed I was more insecure: about my body, my motherhood, my style, my home. I was quicker to snap at Sam and the kids. My thoughts wandered more often to anxious, fearful places.
When he could tell something was off, Sam would point- blank ask me, “Have you spent a lot of time scrolling today?”
Ten out of ten times, I had.
What Our Habits Are Really Teaching Us
In his book Habits of the Household, Justin Whitmel Early writes:
“Habits are kinds of liturgies. They are little routines of worship, and worship changes what we love…When it comes to spiritual formation, our households are not simply products of what we teach and say. They are much more products of what we practice and do.”
He continues:
“By not choosing our habits carefully, we are falling back on rhythms that are forming us in all of the usual patterns of unceasing screen time, unending busyness, unrivaled consumerism, unrelenting loneliness, unmitigated addictions and unparalleled distraction.”
I couldn’t shake the thought of what life might look like without social media. I couldn’t shake the idea that what if, while my children are young and at home, I could just live fully present— not worried about posting or distracted by scrolling?
Finding My “Nudge” Toward Change
Around the same time, I was reading The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch. He talks about “nudges”— small choices that help us become who we actually want to be.
“We are constantly being nudged by our devices toward a set of choices. The question is whether those choices are leading us to the life we actually want. I want a life of conversation and friendship, not distraction and entertainment.”
I realized that I couldn’t keep spending my limited willpower on resisting the urge to mindlessly scroll and consume. In the grand scheme of life and in the short time that my kids are at home, would I really be missing out on anything by not being on social media?
Or, as I suspect, would the pros of deleting it outweigh the cons of not having it?
The Decision to Delete Social Media
When I asked ChatGPT (ironically enough) what it thought, it said:
“If you’re already considering deleting Instagram and TikTok, it means part of you knows they’re taking more than they’re giving. These platforms are deliberately engineered to keep you scrolling, comparing, consuming– not growing, not resting, not creating. And every hour they take is one you don’t get back. They profit off your attention– not your well-being. You don’t need a perfect reason. Just this one is enough:
‘I don’t like who I am when I’m constantly on them.”
That was exactly it.
Even short amounts of time on social media left me feeling more anxious, less grateful, and less confident. I found myself toggling between TikTok and Amazon, convinced I needed whatever item I’d just seen someone recommend.
The time-suck alone was staggering. Wasting all that time, and for what? I couldn’t make it make sense anymore.
So one morning, I deleted it all.
Life Without Instagram, Facebook or TikTok
Of course, deleting the apps is not the same as deleting your accounts. I’ve re-downloaded Facebook a few times for Marketplace or Instagram to look something up— but each time, I’ve felt an almost immediate urge to delete them again.
It’s now been nearly six months without the constant presence of social media in my life. My life feels quieter, lighter, and more peaceful than ever before. Every time I talk with a friend about this choice, I’m reminded of how necessary it was for me. It’s truly been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and the longer I stay off social media, the longer I hope I am able to.
What I’ve Learned From Quitting Social Media
In full transparency, I haven’t completely broken my phone addiction. I still scroll Pinterest too often and pick up my phone more that I’d like.
But deleting social media has made me:
Happier and more joyful
More confident and secure
Less anxious and irritable
More present with my family
More healthy and whole
I can honestly say my husband and kids have benefited from a calmer, more grounded version of me.
A Season of Presence and Purpose
I can’t say I’ll never return to social media, despite what my title would lead you to believe. Truthfully, I have creative endeavors I still hope to pursue one day (y’all remember wildhoney? That’s still a passion of mine!) That might someday require being online again.
But the reality of my life right now is this: I am doing the most significant work I could ever dream to be doing in raising these babies and tending to my home. The mission of my life right now, and for the foreseeable future, is to make their lives magic, to form little disciples, to make our home a school of love! I am doing exactly what God has called me to do in this season of my life, and I wouldn’t change that for the world.
Being the best wife and mom I can be right now means choosing them over the half-hearted version of myself that social media often brought out.
This decision isn’t for everyone. Not everyone struggles with social media the way I did. In fact I believe there are seasons where the Lord might be asking you to engage more— to be a light in a dark place! The world needs believers and creatives on all kinds of platforms.
But I know this decision was undoubtedly the right one for me. I have no idea how long it will last, like I said— I hope it lasts a long time, maybe forever! I love who I am when I’m not on social media. I feel my life is far more rich and full without its constant presence.
But I will make myself available to whatever the Lord would have me do; wherever He leads me to go.
And right now, it’s on a walk to the park with the kids.
