The curse of social media

There’s a good chance you’ve already seen this video if you’re on social media as it’s been circulating around recently. If you haven’t, it’s well worth a watch.

It raises a really important issue; social media is having a negative effect on many of our lives. We are missing out! We see that social media and its virtual relationships are replacing real human interaction and life experiences.

I’m sure the video will ring true with so many of us – we know how it can suck you in and waste hours. We’ve been at a dinner table or at a party where everyone is on their mobile phones. When I’m in the library, I often look around and can sometimes see up to half the people sitting around me captivated by the Facebook and Twitter on their screens, or tapping away on their phone; it’s amazing we can be controlled to such a great extent.

Despite this, social media is not inherently a bad thing. I’ve been able to keep in touch with friends and family all over the world. When I’ve gone cold turkey from Facebook, I’ve found myself missing out, not informed of kayaking or climbing trips, parties, this and that. This shows that it is instead our use of it that is negative.

It’s clearly about achieving a happy balance. Hopefully this video will encourage you to re-evaluate how you spend your time and consequently create time you didn’t know you had. If you take a break, you’ll soon see what you miss most, and also what you don’t miss. That will put you back in control. Maybe next time, rather than reading about what your 638 ‘friends’ are up to, you could go and meet up with one of them.

“So look up from your phone, shut down the display, take in your surroundings, make the most of today”

“Talk to one another, learn to co-exist”

“When you’re too busy looking down, you don’t know the chances you miss”

“So look up from your phone, shut down those displays, we have a finite existence, a set number of days, don’t waste your life getting caught in the net, as when the end comes nothing’s worse than regret.”