Despite numerous studies, articles, and stories posted about the negative effects of social media and our society’s obsession with technology, I still reach for my phone at any spare moment in the day and feed my compulsion. I check Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates, and then cancel them out, only to reopen them seconds later hoping for something new to read, see, or gossip about.
Most people today would admit to being addicted to their phone, but that’s as far into the recovery process as they are willing to go. And I am one of those people. I am the first to admit that our society has a problem with technology, yet I say these words while refreshing my Twitter feed. I am the first to admit that social media sites have negatively impacted relationships, yet I say that while ignoring my dad in the car because I’m scrolling through Instagram photos.
Like many people, my phone is my alarm. However, my phone doesn’t leave my hand after it has woken me up. Instead, I respond to texts I missed while sleeping and then quickly check any unread notifications on Twitter and Facebook. I scan through each app before starting my day, often seeing or reading something that upsets me or poisons my brain. And just like that, my day has begun with a quick dose of social media, often resulting in some kind of negative response. My phone is the first thing I look at when I wake up and the last thing I look at before going to bed.
Social media makes people feel inferior. Everyone posts their best moments of their day or week, whether it be their good hair day, their muscle gains, a gourmet meal, or their vacation from last summer. Post after post flies by, and without even knowing it, we are comparing ourselves to the lives that people post on a screen. But no one is posting their ugly days, bad moments, or failures. So we all go around pretending everything is great and posting about how blessed we are, yet we don’t feel as blessed if we don’t get as many likes as we were hoping to. We hide behind screens of insecurity only to further deepen those feelings because someone else’s selfie was edited better than ours.
I waste hours of my day on social media. I find myself missing entire movies because I was absorbed with my Twitter feed, even though no one posted anything new. I tune out my friends and family, missing entire conversations because I was busy posting on Facebook about how technology has destroyed relationships. Social media has damaged our time with others. We have become obsessed with capturing moments, but not the memories. We miss out on time with the people we love because we love our cell phones more. We are a social society, yet no one is talking.
My mind is poisoned because of social media. Not only am I comparing myself to others, but I am judging people on what they post. I recognize that I have hatred toward people whom I have met only once or twice solely because of what they post on social media. Political, religious, and social beliefs are thrown in my face every time I open an app. I either feel offended or mortified. Social media destroys my individual thoughts because everything is fine-tuned to make sure that what I post doesn’t offend or cause others to judge me. I care more about what other people think of my posts than I do about my own values and convictions.
These are the confessions of a social media addict. Check out my article next week to read my follow-up response after a week of social media sobriety.
