With the whole threat of net neutrality recently settling down after threatening to drastically change our online lives, people are enjoying Twitter to its fullest potential. It’s hilarious. Where else can you get sports statistics paired with a GIF atop a Kim Kardashian, Chicago West, Kylie must be pregnant statement followed up by a meme of Gavin, our favorite internet son? Twitter. It’s simple. But how much is too much of a good thing?
Over the summer I was working, interning and taking classes so my time was spread pretty thin. Any free time I had I tried to spend it doing homework or finishing up any work I didn’t get done while I was in the office. Prioritizing my tasks and practicing time management became essential. Thus, paying attention to my time became inevitable.
I was wasting too much time “between tasks” scrolling through my social media feeds, Twitter in particular. So, after talking to my friends about deleting the app, I did. Of course, I could still access the site from my computer but I stayed logged into the company account so I wouldn’t be tempted to check-in on my friends, look at the latest memes or get distracted with an endless number of articles.
It was easier to do than I thought. You get busy, you take care of business, you don’t think about it. Out of sight, out of mind. That is until your friend texts you and says, “did you see the tweet I sent you?”
NO, I DID NOT, AND I WON’T SEE IT FOR TWO AND A HALF MORE MONTHS SO DON’T TALK ABOUT IT.
We’ve become really dependent upon social media. I like the instant gratification of sharing a nice, aesthetically pleasing photo on Instagram of me drinking coffee just as much as the next person. But we’ve become so saturated with consuming content every minute of every day that we can barely put our phones down for the 80 minutes we’re in class.
It’s not necessarily a matter of needing to know the tragic news, but rather the wanting to stay in constant connection and have continued communication with our friends or the our “following.”
Being in the eye of the public is no longer part of the job for people in Hollywood or famous athletes. We hurl ourselves into the eyes of thousands of people a day across many different platforms.
Giving up Twitter for a short time was beneficial because it allowed me to be less distracted when I needed to be professional and on top of everything going on in my life.
But I didn’t have this revolutionary experience of wanting to give up all social media for the rest of my life. I don’t think that’ll ever happen. We’ve grown up in a world where we feel like we need it. We have it for work, we use it to share our content and to keep in touch with people who no longer live 15 minutes away from us. A Twitter cleanse was nice but all in all, it didn’t really change much in the long run. Sure I was more productive for that time but once I got it back I fell back into the routine of checking my feed every free minute I have.
So, a round of applause to the people who still use flip phones on purpose to avoid the nagging of constant social connection, or the people who delete their email app off their phone or even the people who use a real, old-fashion alarm clock. You’re not missing out on too much. Except constant entertainment when you don’t need it and memes (which are actually really great).
