Whilst promoting her new Netflix thriller on The Kelly Clarkson Show last week, global superstar Mila Kunis cheerfully revealed that she does not use any social media sites. In 2022 this is an almost foreign concept, particularly amongst us ‘90s kids’ and younger.

Hailing from the first generation to actively use social media, (in the very early days, I once updated my Facebook status to excitedly inform my online friends: “I’m on Facebook on the bus!”) I like to think I know a thing or two about sharing my life via multiple online forums. From holidays, friendships, and the birth of my son to takeaway dinners and morning cups of tea, if it has happened, it has been documented for someone, somewhere to see or read about in all its glory.

Then, one day a couple of weeks ago now, it occurred to me. What if, I pondered, I could live a bit of this thing called life without feeling the need to constantly update hundreds of people in the way I had become so accustomed? In minutes I’d deactivated accounts, deleted apps, put down my phone and thought to myself: freedom.

This will only come as a revelation to those of a certain era. I will admit, I felt a bit cheated that nobody had informed me there was even an alternative to my endless scrolling and posting. I started reading again, watched TV, and managed to follow the story, took naturally candid photos to share with specific friends and family members and felt as well rested mentally as I have done following any holiday, long lie, or trip to the spa.

A social media detox would have once felt like a punishment, but I enjoyed self- indulgently focussing on myself in the absence of others’ posts and updates. You can’t compare what you don’t know, and for a while, not knowing was a welcome break. I’m not sure if I’ll ever manage ‘a Mila’ and make it my new normal, but when I do return to the online world, I imagine it will be an occasional scroll in quiet moments as opposed to the obsession it had become. I would encourage anyone who can resonate with this to pop their phone or laptop away and focus solely on real life for a while. Who knows? You might even prefer it.