What would you do if you could not use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for an entire week? The simple answer is, you would not get on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for a week. But I came to a more interesting conclusion when I took a self-imposed, brief, but necessary hiatus from the Internet.

Toward the end of the summer, I started to get anxious and feel left out as I scrolled through my timelines. From my view, everyone was having these exciting adventures and getting in their last hurrah before the school year began. And there I was — at home doing none of the above.

I could feel myself caring more and more about maintaining my “online persona”. It is something everyone has. Essentially, it is the persona a person would like the world to think they are, when in reality no one is as cool as the number of Instagram followers they have.

Even the most confident can receive a bruised ego when a status or a photo posted does not get as many likes as the person had hoped. But, why? Why as a society of free willed young adults, do we prize our self-confidence around friends or followers who we are hardly even acquaintances with? Why are we spending so much time basing our self-worth off the opinions of others? These are the questions I struggled with before finally deciding to cut off the ties from the apps holding me down to my phone like an anchor.

I promised myself I would take a big step away from social media until I no longer felt the need to scroll through it when I was bored. At first I could not count the number of times I opened my phone thinking I would scroll through Twitter while I had five extra minutes, only to remember the app was no longer installed on my phone.

Frankly, I never really did stop reaching for my phone. Though after a few days I found myself only fighting the urge to scroll through social media before I went to bed, a routine I had practiced before my time away. As it turns out I achieved much more than I set out to during my social cleanse. Aside from almost eliminating a need to share every part of my life, I inspired a few of my friends to find entertainment outside of their phones as well. I even ignited a conversation about why we label our value as human beings on the number of ‘likes’ we receive on a selfie. This conversation in turn sparked a story found in Section B of this paper.

So, all in all, get up and go outside. Put that genius hunk of metal down and breathe in the clean southern air. A person’s value is not based on numerals and their worth is not defined by anyone but themselves. If you are up to it, the next time you want to take a photograph of the beautiful day, take it. But do not post it. Keep the memory between the people you were lucky enough to enjoy it with.