by Staff writer 
Speaking to The Guardian about her journey and eventual decision to quit social media, 23-year-old Daisy from Manchester narrates how quitting social media has made her life happier:
“After ending a romance with a guy I really liked, I kept trying to avoid Facebook so I wouldn’t have to see him.
It was after this that I gradually switched off from social media, but before that I’d been wanting to quit for a while.
Facebook made me feel anxious, depressed and like a failure.
When I went online it seemed like everyone was in Australia or Thailand, and if they weren’t traveling they were getting engaged or landing great jobs.
I felt like everyone was living their dream and I was still at home with my parents, with debt from my student loan hanging over me.
I also felt that if I wasn’t tagging myself at restaurants or uploading photos from nights out, people would assume I wasn’t living.
I remember a friend from uni said to me once, “Yeah, but you’re still going out and having fun, I saw it all on Facebook.”
I tried to present myself as always having a great time. If my status didn’t get more than five likes, I’d delete it.
My life has changed for the better since deleting social media.
I now enjoy catching up with my friends, and when they tell me new plans my response isn’t just, “Yeah, I saw on Facebook.”
It makes you realize who your real friends are and how social media takes the joy out of sharing news with people.
I also feel less anxious and less of a failure.
I’m planning to visit a friend in Australia next month, and she and my mum and a couple of other friends want me to go back on Facebook to share my pictures.
I’d really prefer not to, though.
I’m on Instagram, but I mostly follow sarcastic quote pages.
I’ve never had a Twitter account.”
