Social Media & Life

  •   Tue, Feb 27 2024
  •   By Chethana Rahul Rao

February 27, 2024

Time is precious and is the most valuable thing in life. How are we spending our time these days? Most of us are into our phones or laptop-busy working, creating something on online platform, reading, learning, business, etc., an absolute positive use of advanced technology. Meanwhile, there are many who use technology just to create reels, go through feed, online gaming, online shopping, gambling etc,. They have the compulsion to log onto social media and keep switching between various platforms of social media without even realizing the time that is being spent. So, is it wrong? No! It isn’t wrong until unless you keep a track of the time being spent. Social media shouldn’t become an addiction in life, it should be an addition to life.

As we all know, social media refers to interactions among people where they can create, share, discuss and exchange ideas virtually. Examples of social media are: facebook, youtube, instagram, whatsapp, telegram, snapchat etc. These social media acts as a medium to share, learn, interact and for the purpose of marketing. According to one of the latest research, more than half of the world’s population (62.3%) uses social media and the average daily time spent is 2 hours 23 minutes.

Let us recollect the days where social media was just born. There was plenty of time left in-spite of 9am-6pm jobs. People indulged themselves in indoor/outdoor games, go meet friends, visit a relative’s house, travel, develop hobbies and many more. It was easy to interact with people as the only mode to communicate was in person or via a call from phone. Small things like, rendering a talk at school, hosting an event, performing a dance form, planning and executing a trip, taking care of your loved one, playing with kids, listening to music, cooking, meeting a friend, washing your favorite car/bike gave happiness.

NOW, it is difficult to find people who are actually happy from within, rare to find people who are interested to communicate in person other than social media platform. Indoor/ outdoor games have turned into online games, thousands of friends in social media account but none to talk to during hard times and relatives just in mind. Travelling outside with mind inside the phone.

Engaging in social media once in a while is not harmful but over use of it surely has impact on our lives. The possible drawbacks are:

1) Feeling lonely-Phone becomes your friend. The moment you do not have your phone, you feel isolated.
2) Low Self-esteem-In virtual world everything seems fantastic, but without realizing that you tend to compare your lives with others and feel their life is better.
3) Relationships deteriorate-With much use of phone, tendency of ignoring relationships in real life is more.
4) Disturbed sleep patterns-Overuse of phone in the night affects sleep and mental health.
5) Low grades/ poor performances-Concentration gets disturbed which impacts on studies/ work.
6) Health at risk-Physical activity reduces with much use of social media which directly affects your overall health.
7) Depression, anxiety, Irritability, fear of missing out-These may lead to even more use of social media platform.
8) Basic quality is lost-As humans; the basic quality of interacting, empathizing and building social circle is lost. Social media becomes "the" social life.

How do we limit the use of social media and not get addicted to it?

1) Screen time- Keep track of time you are investing in social media. Limit screen time to less than two hours, other than work.
2) Uninstall apps on phone- Delete the apps from your phone which you feel are likely to use often. When required, log in using tablet/laptop.
3) Develop hobbies- Be physically active, it keeps your mind healthy too. Develop hobbies such as sketching, dancing, music, cooking, gardening or any hobby which doesn’t involve technology.
4) Meet friends or family- Try to meet friends or visit family whenever possible. It not only builds relationships but also your personality.
5) Keep phone outside dining & bedroom- Make it a habit not to use phone while you are having food. Stop using phone before you go to bed and once after you wake up.
6) Balanced lifestyle and motivation- Make sure your daily routine is balanced. Keep yourself motivated.
7) Don't preach but also follow-For parents who constantly blame their kids for overusing the smart phone must limit their own screen time.
8) Seek help-Feel free to consult mental health professionals if you find it difficult to understand the condition of your mental health and its effect on life.

Your life should be under your control not under the influence of your account in social media. More time spent on social media platform makes you a loser in real-life platform. So, make best choices and limit to positive usage of these advanced technologies.

Below is one short poem of mine which I want to share with you all:

Happiness is beyond mobile updates and internet games.
Personality is beyond photographs and feed posts.
Friendship is beyond requesting and following people in the virtual community.
Life is beyond likes and comments on social media.
‘World’ is beyond ‘smartphone and online network’.
Let’s wake up to ‘reality’!

I wish you all a socially-active and happy life outside social media. Keep shining and keep smiling.

 

 

 
By Chethana Rahul Rao
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Comment on this article

  • Rohan, Mangalore

    Thu, Mar 07 2024

    Excellent article


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