A Digital Recluse's Calling
Connecting to each other offline
In the world of Gen Zs that revolves around social media in establishing their identities, there are social media recluses that choose not to follow suit. We have gathered collection of three stories of individuals who choose to stay offline.
Andrew Cole
Staying away from social media is a lifestyle choice that greatly boosts yourself esteem, as well as your mental health.
Christian Chua
Social media builds identities and relationships but the risk of putting one’s self out there causes invaded privacies that can be concerning.
Aedryn Campos
In a connected world, some would rather disconnect and have this organic offline interaction.
Andrew Cole
Written by Audrey R.
From the Philippines to Canada, Andrew Cole has been nothing short of adventurous when it comes to new opportunities.I have known Andrew ever since we were six years old in 2009 at Everest Academy. We were classmates all the way till graduation, and spending 12 years together as friends and schoolmates was a very fortunate experience for me. Andrew had lived in Canada when he was younger till he moved to the Philippines. He was a volunteer in several youth programs, such as Conquest for Boys, an altar boy for the Knights of the Altar, and a missionary in Mission Youth.During my 12 years with Andrew as his classmate, I came to notice that like me back then, he didn’t have social media. In one of recent our calls to catch up, I asked him a few questions regarding about his decision to not use social media.When I asked about his experience with social media, he said that he had little to none.AC: I don’t have much social media experience; I didnt feel comfortable with using it because during Covid I would have to see other people going out, having fun, making plans, and it really hurt my self esteem. It made me think lowly of myself and I just didn’t like that.A: So did you ever try it once other did you just stay away from it completely?AC: I do have some social media but I rarely use it. In my opinion, the real issue is that it really depends on how much you use it. There is some good to social media but there are also a lot of negatives about addiction. There’s such a thing called doomscrolling and that’s something I actively try to stay away from.A: Interesting, that’s a big word. So has this affected any potential or current social friendships you may have in university?AC: Yes, I would say it would have affected it definitely. When people ask if I have Instagram I always have to say no. Back when I had it I used to be self conscious, now it’s still a disadvantage because I have to explain to people that I don’t use it. But anyway, like I said previously, it’s not wrong to have it. I think just having the perfect usage is okay.A: I see, so do you feel like you’re missing out on anything at all?AC: Yes, but the issue is if you want to feel bad about it or not. You think about if you take things for granted in your life that you already have and the friends you do have, well you care about them. Once again, the question is how much you let social media affect your life.All in all, Andrew told me many times that he does not let social media take over his life. The social media he does have is he is conscious about it and is aware of the consequences it might have such as the time usage. Andrew is now currently in the University of Toronto studying neurobiology and headed towards med school. When I asked about his social life he said making so much friends in person is an exciting and healthy way to live his college life. Andrew is returning to the Philippines after sometime briefly in December, when he does get make I’ll be sure to ask him more advice on how the detach from social media myself
Christian Chua
Written by Winnie L.
In an age where digital technology has been an integral part of our generation’s life, we depend a lot more on it than we realize. This is why Generation Z has been dubbed the “Internet” generation. However, not all Gen Z youths are in on social media trends despite the platforms being a huge part of how we network and identify ourselves. For someone like Christian, being active on social media platforms is not as appealing in establishing his identity. He sees the internet as an objective tool to gather relevant information from and not as a medium to share his.Christian D. Chua, a third-year Communication Arts student studying at De La Salle University - Manila, puts great importance on minimizing his digital footprint. He mentioned that he did not really get his own phone until after he graduated from junior high school, which means that his only means of internet access is his computer at home. Even if they had a PC at home, Christian’s parents were strict about his and his sibling’s screen time. This led him to have less dependency on establishing an online presence, unlike most current Gen Zs. But, since he grew to be an introvert, he is still dependent on entertainment factors that the internet provides such as search engines, music, and entertainment media.When asked about his specific reasons as to why he avoids social media, Christian mentioned that he does not see the need to put himself out there on the internet for the whole world to know about him. He is hugely concerned about privacy and security concerns in social media platforms especially TikTok and Facebook (which he has no choice but to use for family and school purposes). I, personally, stalked his Facebook profile to see if he really was my classmate but I had no way of identifying him except for our mutual friends list since his Facebook has no personal pictures, shared posts, or any indicator that it was him. When asked about this, he stated that he avoids posting altogether due to Facebook’s sketchy information-gathering process.Christian also mentioned that he watches a lot of privacy concern content on YouTube to educate himself about the dangers of exposing his personal information on social media. But, he is also aware that he leaves digital footprints by continuing to browse the internet which is why he tries to avoid sharing personal things online instead. As for news, Christian, surprisingly, is very updated with what is happening with socio-political happenings locally and internationally. He said that part of his YouTube algorithm is timely and credible news. However, I also asked about what he thinks of consuming news on social media platforms such as Facebook. Christian was very skeptical of news being distributed on these platforms and said that it could be an avenue for fake news to spread.
Ultimately, Christian acknowledges and considers himself as a digital recluse when it comes to social media presence but he is not behind on timely news and information regarding the world and the community that he is in. It may be hard for him to establish a wide circle of followers and networks on his digital spaces but he believes that it does not hinder him from having any social life at all.
Aedryn Campos
Written by Davey L.
In a world where social media is the main prominent form of communication, a series of webs connecting one another across the globe, has become a way to keep in touch with one another in mere seconds, where one click is all it takes to find out all the information they need about you. Brought about by the pandemic remote working being stuck in your home, everyone’s social media addiction intensified. like a story, there are 2 sides to everything, those who enjoy the connections and fame while Some people stray away from the toxic space known as the Digital Environment. Mr. Aedryn Campos is a student at DLSU taking the course BS Chemistry ID 121, Mr. Campos stated 3 main reasons why he avoids social media.“First I hate how you need to have this perfect persona online” When you look at the Facebook profiles or the Instagram feeds of your friends and celebrities, there seems to be a theme or a filter that these people want you to see them as. “It feels fake” Mr. Aedryn Campos stated that people often are not what they seem like online saying that he’d rather have this organic introduction and get to know that person through his own interaction not through the assumptions he had made seeing their profile. He often just uses social media in cases where he has to since it is still the main form of communication in school with parents, friends and relatives.“Pangalawa kung nagkamali ka it's hard to take back” Since it is a social media site one mistake could spiral into this big issue you might even be “canceled” a term used online for someone who is shunned for something they did. Though getting canceled would mean that you did something wrong or highly unacceptable for our society, “nakakatakot pa din kaya di na lang ako nag popost o share”.“For mental health din” there’s this sense of missing out when you look and check up on other people on social media, they post or story the places they go to who they're with, and what they're doing. In a sense, you unconsciously compare yourself to the kind of life they're living compared to you. In terms of friends, Mr Campos states that he does not like this feeling of being left out; he overthinks and then goes into this spiral of uncontrollable emotion that isn't good for him. In the end, there's not much difference with or without using social media in this world of connection; some just want to disconnect and rather have this organic offline interaction.
Audrey Rodrigueza Communication Arts student in De La Salle University who loves creating characters and stories with her imagination.
Winnie Lian ID121 Communication Arts & Entrepreneurship student at De La Salle University - Manila who has great interests in networking, gaming, and business building
Davey Lacistea student at DLSU ID 121 studying the course of CAM-MKT, Like our topic I am a social media recluse that’s why topic is something that is close to my heart.