Social Media: Addicted or Not?

Social Media : a virtual room full of people where all of us are shouting out information, exchanging views and thoughts and calling for attention. In this room there are also bystanders and those simply watching the show. There are a lucky few who get noticed, the even luckier ones get an answer and of course the luckiest of all who find their solution and are able to offer a solution. 

All jokes aside, Social Media is the most powerful platform today to promote yourself, exchange information in a matter of seconds, build a good image and also screw someone over in a jiffy. All that on the largest global stage fabricated from web-based technologies, where we are all equal and so equal that we even feel close enough to a celebrity to offer our condolences to them when one of their parents passes away.

Social media has only come to possess us in the recent years and prior to that we pretty much relied on traditional methods of advertising for our businesses and on a personal level we actually picked up the phone and made a call. In Social Media one doesn't need a physical voice, all you need is a keypad and the knowledge to be able to communicate in your given language. 

I decided to go back in time and step into the year 2001 for a few days. I disabled my smartphone a few levels and switched off my IM functions, deleted my total of seven social media Apps and kept active only my email accounts, SMS and phone calls. I did realise this would be a sticky affair for me considering I use Social Media not only for work but also on a personal level to promote my blog and to keep in touch with people. 

Nevertheless, I was prepared to take the leap and actually was looking forward to a week without knowing what someone ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, how the view of the sky was from an airplane, what Candy Crush level someone had crossed, where someone had checked in to drink a cup of coffee, which song they were listening to at 02.23 am or how the change in weather was affecting someone’s mood. With absolutely no offense to anyone, it was simply an experiment I was ready to embark upon.

Initially I felt hugely responsible to inform a few people of my disappearance and this is when I truly realised there was literally only a handful of people who would be hugely affected by my absence on all these networks. An eye opener that was!

I had all kinds of reaction, ranging from “ok”, “what? L Why? Are you okay?”, “when will you be back?” (this last one felt like I was moving to Nepal and detaching from the world), and “I don’t believe you will last for more than a day”.

As amusing as all these reactions were, all these people adjusted to my needs and I was humbled by their efforts to call me from abroad, email me and not expect an instant reply or even leave messages with other people for me.

Apart from my phone battery lasting longer these days, I noticed my mind was relaxed and not scattered. I was not concerned about replying my Whatsapp’s, updating my status on FB or Twitter, Pinning a dress I liked in a store, enhancing my pictures on Instagram, searching for music on Spotify, watching Youtube videos or reading poetry on Tumblr. What a mouthful that was right? Imagine all the time I was saving?

Instead I read the newspaper once a day, used my memory to wish a good friend a Happy Birthday and actually met her for a coffee, without doing a Foursquare check in or taking a picture of our doughnuts and posting them on Instagram. I called my mother and spoke to her for an hour, I read a novel in all my waiting breaks, cleaned out my Inbox, emptied my Trash and deleted over two hundred pictures from my phones memory. It was like Feng Shui was being performed on my phone and I was happy to let it happen.

I did notice also how the social part of the media is simply “a boredom filler” for most of us. I call this TP (Time Pass).  If I was missing on Facebook, no one really cared and if I didn’t tweet or pin then again no one really cared. I was used to speaking to certain people in this social media manner on a daily basis and actually began to believe for a while “yeah we are close!” It’s not that I am not fond of those people or vice versa, but in all honesty had there not been a medium in between, well perhaps communication would be nil or limited. Does this ring a bell? The good old days when we only spoke to someone when there was a true need and this did not label you as anti social did it? I have mentioned my Fist of Five before and in these past few days that fist was alive and very much active, without an instrument in between which held us together.

Conclusions. I agree I did have withdrawal symptoms on occasions and I was especially keen to check up on the posts that were made by some bloggers I follow and I also felt a need to see certain pictures. Nevertheless, this need was not a desperate one and I reminded myself that I could easily survive without these networks and there are other things in my life I most definitely would not survive without. I am luckily not one of those people who suffers from compulsive status updating, but I would like to remind everyone that it’s not healthy to share your problems publicly because other than being judged and probably ridiculed, the fact is Lou Holtz said that 20% don’t actually care and the remaining 80% are actually glad you have them. This is very disturbing and the same applies for your victories and triumphs. 20% don’t care and 80% are probably jealous.

We all do it, I do it and I proudly post, tweet, pin, check in, like, comment, repost and I would dislike too if the option was there. However, it’s good to find a balance and this is one more addiction that can be remedied.

An interesting fact I observed was the time I take to use social media for my business and blog promotion everyday is not more than thirty minutes in total. Yet somehow on a personal level we are able to spend 4-5 hours a day on these networks. Doing what? Well that you should know!

In a positive light, I believe Social Media is fantastic for all the introverts out there. It enables the Internet to act as a buffer first and allows you to prepare for your answers. There are a lot of people who suffer from speech impediments and Social Media has broken down those barriers of prejudice for such people. It boosts their confidence and brings them out of their bubble.

Social Media has also brought the world closer on many levels. It is easier to share knowledge that can be very useful to others via this medium. Blogs play a large role and bring out the objective arguments of many services, products and solutions offered to consumers. An example I like to use is for the hospitality industry. Thanks to you the social media user, I get to hear about your experience at a restaurant or hotel. It enables me to make my decision more carefully and I am deeply thankful for these insights.

Use these magnificent tools to empower you, don't let social media overpower you!