![]() Right now, with my friends being so digitally connected and with my career being so intertwined with social media, taking all the steps to mitigate my usage isn't a journey I'm willing to go on right now.Īnd as the data has shown us, it clearly isn't an easy journey for many of us to undergo. Post continues below.īecause oversimplifying my life by downgrading and disabling apps would mean I make life harder for those I love. Listen to The Quicky, a Mamamia podcast that gets you up to speed. Of course, I don't necessarily want to be here – obsessed with my apps and my devices – but what choice do I have? Or plan trips with my friends a state away from me if I couldn't share the screen with them while we booked flights on FaceTime? How else would I contact my parents (who live in another country) if Facebook Messenger didn't exist? It's not an extracurricular activity or a side hobby anymore. Our lives are (but specifically my life is) tethered together by social media. I'm jealous of others who are capable of disengaging, if I'm honest – because realistically, my life isn't built to cater to a world where I don't have access to the internet easily or social media at the click of a button. ![]() We wouldn't have the stereotypes that instead of having our heads buried in a book, we're buried in a phone. I've been told I could do the same as others who've gotten by with less – and technically I could.īut if quitting social media was easy to do, we wouldn't have millions of young people dealing with phone addictions. They say it simplified their lives and gave them clarity. I've read stories and watched videos of men and women giving up their smartphones for a simple one – one that makes it difficult to download apps and stay present in a digital world. But the desire to see and be seen overrides any sense of conviction I have to be disconnected. I've implemented rules where my phone had to be in another room for bedtime. I've limited my app usage and logged out of my personal accounts. Maybe if our whiteboards weren't digital when I was in the second grade (which was over 17 years ago, by the way) and maybe if I wasn't encouraged to open my laptop and google an answer instead of searching for it in a book, I would be a little less inclined to reach for my phone when I have a question that needs an answer.īelieve me, I've tried to not be so engaged. So many jobs these days revolve around social media and engagement and analytics and consuming all types of data that didn't exist 30 years ago. Our connection to even our inner circle is tied through social media – and so are our careers. We see what our loved ones are up to through Instagram. We learn about the events going on in our cities and neighbourhoods through community groups. We keep up with our extended family's lives through Facebook. It might even be better if we cut ourselves off from the digital world – because, in truth, we were certainly not made to be so young and consume so goddamn much information.īut the thing is, the entire concept of disengaging and "entering back" into the real world is really just an illusion. Sure, we could disable our Instagram, delete all the apps and tell our friends to reach out via pigeons.Īnd arguably, we probably should downgrade from a smartphone to an old-school brick. But "quitting"? It's not in my vocabulary when it comes to anything involving the digital world. It just means I curate who I follow, who I listen to and what I engage with. ![]() But it doesn't mean I want to lean out of social media. Of course, it's not easy to be surrounded by so many curated lifestyles when mine looks. I would be lying though if I didn't admit I've fallen into the self-comparison trap and wondered how someone's life could look so much better than mine. I love watching what others are getting up to and I've made some very valuable connections (in both my career and personal life) by reaching out to others through social media. I like posting my meals and doing birthday shout-outs for my friends and family (even a few celebrities sometimes). Admittedly, I'm a social media-obsessed gal.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |