I’ve read several posts on the subject and have been asked a few times over the months how I was able to get my wife off social media and how I was able to get her to stop The Scroll.

You know The Scroll it’s when her head is bent over the screen of her phone, just flicking it up over, and over, and over. Trying to keep up with the Kardashians, Charlie Sheen’s AIDs, Miley Cyrus’s exposed snatch (you ain't twerkin' you ain't workin')…you get it.

Your wife will sit there, wasting hours of her time and she'll allow these people, who do not even know she exists, to stress her out. She does nothing productive with that time, just scrolling….and scrolling.

I asked Mrs. TrainingTheBrain to tell me briefly what led to her making the decision to leave social media, in her own words. She sent me this:

Why I left Facebook and other social media outlets

The question is a legitimate one, as probably 99% of Society has a social media account. Not only do they have one, but they spend a lot of their day updating, checking, and thinking of the next post they’ll make.

I want to be the 1%. I want to be a part of the 1% of society who just doesn't give a fuck about what Emily made for Dinner (I make dinner every night along with the rest of America!) and I certainly don't give a fuck that your child just pooped on the potty! I have 2 of my own and have seen enough of their poop in potties that I am set for life on that topic!

I had always known how my Husband felt about Facebook and how fake people were on it, promoting their life vice living it. But, I held on as we were in the Military and hundreds of miles away from family.

When we moved home I realized it didn't matter where we were because people are so used to communicating via Facebook and Instagram in their fake & staged life on a newsfeed that I truly didn't know my family or friends anymore.

This led to so much frustration, anger, and annoyance at people who didn't deserve it. But I simply couldn't get over how self absorbed these people, my friends and family had become. There was no 'true' connection, only electronic.

The friends that we lived near while on base now seemed so different, they were obsessed with their 24/7 selfie and perfect family photo rituals. A girl I knew that “hated selfies" began to post one every single day.

Did I mention I HATE selfies?

I understand that sometimes it is your only means of taking a photo and you certainly don't want to hand a stranger your phone, but selfie after selfie on Facebook and Instagram day after day... Bitch I am sick of your face.

I recognized that I was so annoyed and so caught up in my anger at people's self-absorption that I threw my hands up and said FUCK IT and I deleted my Facebook and Instagram.

For a few days after that, I didn't know what to use my phone for. I would grab my phone to check updates on Facebook, but it wasn’t there anymore. I went through withdrawals where my mind had to get used to the lack of stimulation that used to be there every 10 minutes.

Then something else began to take social media's place in my mind. I found myself happier...worrying about my own life and not anyone else’s. Focused on living my life and not promoting it.

Instead of trying to capture moments I was able to be fully present and immersed in the moment, not thinking of capturing a picture and not thinking of how many ‘likes’ I'd gotten.

I became a person in the now; not the future, not the past - but the NOW.

And the now has gotten me to eating right, drinking less, losing 20+lbs, joining a dance class, painting, writing a children's book, and having much more quality time with family.

I am happier now than ever just by being freed from Social Media. (I had to let you all in on my achievements since I don't have a newsfeed to put it on! haha JUST KIDDING!)

But really... it is your one life, be the best real YOU, not the Facebook selfie you. Live your life and enjoy the moments, stop trying to capture and promote for the world. For some it is merely a tool, but for most, whether they admit it or not, social media is on their mind throughout every vacation, holiday, or 'special moment'. always looking to capture how great and happy their life is instead of truly being great and happy in your life for yourself.

Live for you. – Mrs. Drew

We always tell men to look at what women do and not what they say. In this case look at both and come to whatever conclusions you may.

The points that I brought up and the seeds that I planted in her mind were as follows.

  • I asked her why her friends were writing on her wall that they ‘missed her’ even though these chicks lived 20 minutes away.

  • I brought up that she was stressed out from scrolling and watching the highlight reel of other people’s lives and comparing them to her ‘normal’ life.

  • I kept bringing up how conversational skills are dwindling and that I didn’t even enjoy talking to her because she was always distracted. Her mind literally wanted to keep scrolling with the instant gratification of something new being just minutes away.

  • When she would scroll I would leave. No words, no anything. I would leave the room, the house, whatever I wanted to do - I would go and do that. I wasn’t butt-hurt; I just didn’t find her worth my time and attention.

It got so bad that there were times where she was mad at people for doing their thing. She was mad family members wouldn’t ‘like’ pictures of the kids, she was mad her friends kept taking selfies; she was building this anger towards people for living their life, which is not any business of her’s.

I brought to her attention the little amount of time we have on this earth and how few breathes are left in our lives. Giving attention to celebrities and getting stressed over keeping up with the Jones’ is weak and that if she was going to live like that, then I was going to go off and do things on my own and with the kids. Being in the moment with them and truly appreciating all of the beauty this world has to offer.

Eventually she recognized all of this and then ‘she’ made the decision to leave the world of social media and has been a powerhouse of productivity and improved mental health ever since.

If your wife is addicted to The Scroll you need to keep bringing up the negative affects it’s having on her. Along with that, do NOT reward failure; remove your time and attention from someone who doesn’t appreciate it.

Facebook can be incredibly useful as a tool. I didn't find it to be that way, you do you. This is for those dudes whose wives can't go a day without their phone, or without checking those sites. It's for the wives who get angry when a picture isn't perfect or their photo isn't as popular as someone else's.

If you can use it without abusing it, then go for it. Unfortunately my wife is correct, there are a lot more people who are addicted that aren't willing to admit it.

For the SJWs and WhiteKnights -I did NOT make her delete her accounts; she did that on her own.

She can say all day that she can get rid of it whenever or that it doesn't matter, but I look at behaviors. I told my wife we weren't going to be a part of her 'life promotion', she took the necessary action and I was/am proud of the results as is she.

If your wife is in the same boat, stop rewarding her failure. Remove your time and attention, give it to something worthy and not caught up in how they rank in the world of facebook.

Acta, Non Verba.