Hands up if in the last twenty-four hours you’ve wasted away an hour on social media. It’s fair; nowadays our entire lives revolve around these platforms. We sell our personal brand through Instagram because we have to prove our self-worth to the world. We brag about our outings through Snapchat because it didn't happen if it's not on-line, and we state our most private thoughts on twitter. Honestly, who needed to know you thought about fucking your professor last Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.?
It’s a cycle. Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, then Instagram again and we’re back to square one. These apps are a rabbit hole, they’re quicksand. You dip a finger, and soon before you know it, it’s 2 a.m., you still haven’t done your readings, and the deadline for that paper is now five short, stressful hours away.
I cannot put into words the amount of time I have spent on Instagram with no ulterior motive whatsoever. Simply swiping through stories, a blank screen on my mind, void of any emotion or thought. I turn into a vegetable, and is this healthy? You guessed it: no. After speaking to a handful of friends (surprisingly, face-to-face), I was soon made aware that I am not the only one guilty for said crime.
However, a more pressing issue was raised. The mainstream fear of fifty-year-olds raises that social media is ruining human interaction. Okay, no. This myth is strictly impossible, given that humans are, by nature, social creatures. Interaction is the least of our worries. What’s at stake here is our sanity.
On June 2017, Forbes magazine released an article enumerating six ways social media harms an individual’s mental health. The article asserted social media is addictive, leads to jealousy, forces us to compare ourselves to others, and even triggers sadness! To make matters worse, we actually think of social media as an escape and sometimes as a clear representation of our social lives.
And it makes sense! Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat all depict pictures or videos of friends and family sipping margaritas on the beach, laughing around a dinner table, or taking selfies with their lovers. Meanwhile you’re at home, in your PJs, staring at a phone screen, and craving for that chiming ringtone to go off. You lay in bed, wasting away hours of precious sleep on a platform that barely brings you snippets of useful information (well, we can leave twitter off of that one).
My advice? If you sense social media is affecting your happiness or productivity, limit the amount of hours you spend on these platforms. You'll have no other choice but to write that paper, read the final chapter, or submit your problem set. It’s been tried and tested folks. Hey guys, I’m Ori, and I am now 23 hours sober.
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