I love social media. Everywhere I go, I am always flipping and scrolling away on my iPhone; keeping up with the latest news in the world and in my friends’ lives; keeping up with WebCitz strategies; always trying to be the first to grab the hottest articles and retweet or post them on my Facebook wall – so that I would receive the gratifying thumbs up appear in my notifications on my iPhone or computer.
I admit, I would be incredibly uncomfortable not being able to access my usual social media channels for a couple of hours. My hands would constantly be grasping the sides of my jeans pocket, searching for my phone. My eyes would dart back to my computer monitor, in hope of seeing a notification pop up at the side.
Why do I love social media so much? Well, they say that information is power (or was that knowledge?), so I get a kick out of knowing what is going on in the world beyond my physical vision at all times, and having it at my fingertips. Powerful, indeed.
And there is just something so addictive about it – scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling to find something new and interesting; clicking, and clicking, and clicking to pass that message on.
Not to mention that it keeps boredom at bay as well.
That being said, I really hate social media as well.
Here’s why: It hinders me from taking action on anything. And I mean real physical action, and not just clicking the thumbs up button at the bottom of an article you liked, or hitting the Twitter bird to retweet.
I mean really doing something about whatever you just thought or read about. With the overload of information pouring forth from social media, we tend to skip over the action part, and simply enter and exit the agreement phase in record time. It goes something like this:
Step One: Read a compelling article online about a cause.
Step Two: Nod vehemently in agreement with it.
Step Three: Like it on your Facebook wall, retweet it, and comment on it, saying something like “This is brilliant! All of us should do it!”
Step Four: Move on to the next article.
What happened to taking action on something that you passionately agree on and feel for?
This is why I hate social media. It has shortened my response phase. I read, I agree, I move on. It’s safe, it’s fun, but at the end of the day, nothing gets done.
This is my note to self, as well as to you: Not to just read and forget, but to read and take action on something.
Do you face this as well? I’d love to hear all about your social media experiences. Feel free to post in the comments below, or drop by The Original Life Facebook page to have your say.