I’ve noticed that I often need to log in to Facebook. What I realized was that I always did it when I was bored and sometimes completely unconscious. I had a feeling I was feeling better, but in the end I noticed I was wasting my time. I realized that technology controlled me.
I decided to deactivate my profile.
Nowadays, we are more connected than ever in human history, but we still feel lonely, and social media has become a lure that attracts us every time we feel bad.
What often happens? We turn on Facebook, get a dose of dopamine, and scroll endlessly as we think we’ll find the information that matters. We have a feeling that we will constantly miss something, and after looking at the “perfect” (or one could say fake) lives of our friends we only feel worse.
Nothing is free. Free technologies don’t take our money, but they take our time because most of their revenue comes from advertising, and if we are unable to control ourselves we completely lose the original reason why we signed up at all. Nowadays, social networks exist to keep us as long as possible. The consequence is that addiction occurs in the same manner as gambling and alcohol.
After a month I came back. And when I re-entered I realized one important thing.
Nothing has changed and I have lost nothing.
On the contrary, I became much more productive and devoted myself more to the tasks that had a meaning. Ironically, I felt less lonely. The perspective I look at these networks has completely changed and I have no urge to constantly follow what is happening. That noise and clamor can only distract us even further from the things we need to commit to.
Still, I think that social networks have their good sides and that they are a good tool for communication, advertising and organizing events, but if we do not control our urges, this thing can swallow us up by wasting our time instead of solving important problems.
In the end, technology is not bad in itself, but the way we use it.
Additional materials:
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/social-media-use-increases-depression-and-loneliness