Social media has without a doubt, transformed our world and changed the way we interact with one another. The world is now closer than it has ever been before. News, ideas, and stories transfer across the globe instantaneously.
I participate in social media, but I don’t like the role it plays in our society - and more importantly, our lives.
From a business standpoint, social media as a concept is revolutionary. Businesses and corporations can now easily target certain demographics of people based on what we click on and the content on our social media accounts. We see this daily: ads popping up on Facebook of something you shopped for on Amazon weeks ago. They know us. They know what we like, and they are tracking us.
This has made social media sites no longer casual. Social media has grown over the years to become the number one platform for businesses and corporations to connect with people. In turn, producing the age of social media stars, and people getting paid to post a pretty picture of a product on Instagram.
In retrospect, social media has brought the world closer together. But contending research exists saying it has actually distanced our society from the relationships in our own lives, including negatively affecting our own well being.
Social media sites have created a platform that allows people to share the most intimate pieces of their lives with their followers if they choose to. The role social media plays in our society has compelled us to become addicted to our phones.
The continuous updating of new information on social media makes us want to constantly check our phones for “fear of missing out.” We consistently want to stay up to date with whats going on in the world and what’s happening with other people.
I’ll get together with my friends for lunch or dinner, and there’s almost a magnetic force attracting us to pick up our phones. How do you think the “phone stack” game at the dinner table developed? It’s like we have to consciously tell ourselves to stay away and put it down.
The constant checking of social media has distracted our society from the personal relationships in our own life. We are compelled to scroll. We look at our phone while attempting to hold a conversation, while at work, while watching a movie, etc. Studies have shown our society has become addicted to social media.
In my coming years of age, I will admit, I have been a victim of this supposed social media addiction. I would catch myself mindlessly scrolling through social media sites like Facebook or Instagram. Scrolling just to scroll.
It was highly unproductive for my life, so I decided to mindfully disconnect. I limit the number of times I check my phone a day, and it has allowed me to be fully present in what’s going on with myself and with my life.
I enjoy having to catch my family and friends up on all the projects I’ve been working on when I see them. I find greater satisfaction in my own work knowing that I put my highest effort into it, not when it gets a like on Facebook. I like keeping the intimate moments of my life mine.
Does that make me the odd one out? Who knows.
