Lads!

Cén chaoi a bhfuil sibh?

SO, I’ve been monitoring my social media usage this past week using an app called Rescue Time and boy has it been an eyeopener to say the least (more like a depressing slap in the face). I feel preettyy crap about how much of my life I’ve wasted on social media so far. On the flip side however, I do feel ready to change my awful social media habits once and for all (for realz this time, I promise.)

Now I don’t want this post to make it seem like I’m back on my high -anti social media- horse and simply judging people who choose to spend their time on it. We’re all in the same boat here. For example: I just spent 2 hours watching vine compilations instead of writing this blog post… about wasting time on social media… So that’s pretty much where I’m at right now…

On top of that, some of you may remember a blog post I wrote a few weeks back talking about the reasons I stopped using Twitter. Low and behold, can you guess what I did right after writing that blog post? Yup, that’s right, I joined straight back up again.

According to the academz (academics), Twitter has earned itself quite the “negative badge” so to speak, due to it’s addictive nature and the amount of precious time it consumes. Not only that, but the majority of content to be found on Twitter “is considered spam, dull or redundant.” (Malita, 2010, pg. 751-752) I completely relate to this synopsis. Twitter and YouTube were by far my most frequented apps, with Instagram and the Facebook arriving in at 2nd and 3rd.

I’m honestly embarrassed to admit this, but on average I spent 2 hours a day on my phone in one capacity or another. This figure absolutely floored me and honestly still makes my heart sink just to think about it.

According to le researchers:

“College students are exposed to a higher risk of Internet addiction because of their vulnerability […] adjusting to massive amounts of developmental and life changes.” (Cabral, 2011, pg. 6)

College students eh? That’s me! The easy response to this statement I feel, would be to take it as an excuse not to alter our social media habits. The more difficult (but probably healthier reaction) is to take this statement as a massive, bright, beaming red flag and really re-evaluate how you’re spending these precious, fleeting and developmental years you have left in college.

After a long think I’ve decided to deactivate my social media accounts for the time being. I’m not sure how long this will last but we’ll call it a hiatus for now. When I really got to thinking about it I found I could summarize each app fairly succinctly:

Twitter gave me a false sense of self worth & acceptance into a community that isn’t tangible or even really real at all.

Similarly Instagram also provided me with a sense of affirmation, but also gave me a need and desire for said affirmation and often left me feeling inadequate and insecure.

Facebook can only be described as an utterly useless, draining activity, void of meaning which left me feeling empty and unproductive.

I think it’s safe to say that I don’t need these bad boys in my life any longer. As our girl Brittany so eloquently puts it…

I find that I’m quite a black and white person. I’m either all in or all out which is why I feel it’s easiest for me just to make a clean break from social media. However for others reducing their social time little by little might be what works best for them.

What works best for you? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

Tschüss!

Saoirse x

 

 

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Cabral, J., 2011. Is Generation Y Addicted to Social Media?. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications , 2 (1), pp. 5-14.

Malita, L., 2010. Social media time management tools and tips, Romania : Elsevier Ltd.