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This week, Instagram went down, and the world collectively lost its mind.
At first, we weren't sure what to do. If you take a photo of your dog and can't post it online, does the photo even exist?
Most of us spent the first part of the day hitting refresh, hoping to get our social media fix.
But eventually, we had to face the truth: Instagram was offline.
All of a sudden we had so much free time on our hands.
But as the day went on, we realized there are so many other things to do in life when you're not online.
We focused on other things, like charity work.
We realized that we had more time for other hobbies we used to love.
And we had tons of time to try new activities.
Food tastes better when you don't spend all of your time photographing it.
It's important to exercise more than just your thumbs.
Focusing on work is much easier without distractions.
We were able to spend time enjoying other things, like catching up our favorite shows (without distractions like scrolling through Instagram).
Catching up with friends in real life is way better than seeing photos of what they had for lunch online.
There's nothing like quality "me time."
The experts are right: it IS easier to sleep without the glow of a phone next to you.
We finally had time to find out who Marie Kondo is, and which outfits spark joy.
Instagram was offline for less than a day, but we learned something important: we could all use a little less social media in our lives.
Living our best lives didn't require any "likes" or "comments."
It's easier to be "in the moment" without your phone in your hand.
We need to focus on appreciating the beauty of a sunset, instead of taking photos of it for everyone else to see.
Enjoy life, without distractions.
But don't worry, we're not giving up Instagram or all of the cute dog photos.
Like this chucky loaf of cuteness.
And this floofy pup.
The key is to make sure that we balance social media with real life.
Most importantly, we should use social media to positively impact others, like these two senior pups who are hosting a "virtual wedding" to raise money for animal rescue organizations.
Have other examples of ways that you've used social media to positively impact the lives of others? Share them with us in the comments!
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