This is me at this very moment. I took the picture with my iPhone and have both my iPad and my Mac on my lap (yes that is a bottle of alcohol on the floor). You know what else I am doing??? Watching television. This disgusts me. I'm not sure why, but over the past few years, I've felt like I HAD to be connected to every form of technology/social media. Whether it be through Myspace, Facebook, blogs, RSS feeds or text messaging; I always needed a way to let what I was feeling be broadcast to everyone. Sure I got rid of Myspace, but that was just because it was no longer "cool". I have a Facebook account that was full of people from my school years and acquaintances that I NEVER spoke to over the internet. Come to think of it, I never talked to them outside of Facebook either. I'm sure it was a mutual understanding that no one every actually verbalized; that we were just "Facebook friends" so we could keep tabs and always have new information for the gossip train. I did do what every other person I think has done at a time, and I deactivated my FB for over a month. Sure, I had another social media outlet, Twitter, but I really enjoyed my time away. I felt like I was able to accomplish actual real life things, instead of worrying about who updated their status last.
Yep. I was the woman in the above picture. I didn't like it. I felt almost too connected. I didn't feel like I had any sort of privacy left. I'm used to not having any privacy due to the military. Just found out the other day that the phones in barracks are monitored for OPSEC/PERSEC violations. Imagine my glee when my husband told me that. Here I am though, broadcasting all the nice and not so nice aspects of my life to pretty much anyone who can use a computer. Awesome.
I recently did activate FB again, due to my son and his activities. But, I no longer post status updates and in fact, all my communication is done via the message option. I'm also slowly deleting those people I never talk to, and those who are just my friend to keep tabs on me. I don't need that, never did. I have a complicated enough life. I don't need anyone to complicate it further.
How do you feel being so connected sometimes? Do you feel like aspects in your life have changed for the worse, due to an obsession with social media? If so, try unplugging for a while. Set times to check you FB/Twitter or whatever your poison, and then don't check it again for the rest of the day. Or even do as I did, and deactivate (not delete) your social media accounts for awhile and see how you feel. If your life feels "better" after doing so, then you may want to set limits for yourself on your social media use.
No comments:
Post a Comment