For the first time last week, I actually got stuck in somewhat of a traffic jam in Estevan (trains don't count), which turned my attention to social media. Weird? I know, but let me explain.
Of course, the reason for the traffic congestion was the construction on Fourth Street, which at that point, split the city into two halves, with one from Souris Avenue South all the way to Kensington. I was stuck on the road for under 10 minutes, but later that week I was stuck with the social media debate about that construction project for a few hours.
After reading what felt like a book on the history of Estevan roads, endless complaints, and complaints about others’ complaining, and cheers about the hopefully one day completed beautiful street, I was still left with a disturbing feeling: I couldn't understand what people want. I mean a lot of writers wanted for the construction to be over, but all being grown up, I'm pretty sure everyone in that debate realized that construction sucks, but it happens and there is no way out.
So the only answer I came up with was people just want to talk. And the construction gave a handle to that, while social media, like it's been for the past 15 years, became an all-inclusive platform.
But what struck me was that all of those people, including myself, spent all that time online writing and reading the discussion around constructions that most of us probably don't care about that much (the real-life talks I had about it didn't last more than a minute), communicating with mostly strangers, while we could actually go have coffee with people we know and care about, and physically talk about something that matters to us.
Social media came to be as a communication platform, a way to stay in touch when you are apart, an opportunity to get others involved with your life and keep them up to date on what's new. Throughout the past years, the system grew and gained many new features. It's now a huge market, creating all kinds of opportunities. And while it remained monetary-free, it turned into the worst time sucker I've encountered.
A few times I attempted to minimize the amount of time I spend scrolling through different feeds by removing the apps from my phone and keeping myself away from going on the social media websites unless I had to. But eventually, I always got back into the habit of checking social media "just for one minute" and then, an hour later, realizing I still had the phone in my hands doing absolutely nothing.
I always thought that in today's world at least one social media account is a must-have if you are an active, working member of society. Potential employers often check your social activity at the same time, as they ready your resumé. Friends and people you've met once before assume that you died if you disappear from social media. So it felt to me that life without social media is pretty much impossible these days.
But shortly after reading the construction debate, I came across the TED talk by Cal Newport who is a millennial computer scientist and book author, and who's never had a social media account. He avoided it when it came to being, and then had no interest or trust in it and he believes that he is actually better off without it, so as everyone else would be. In his talk, he debunked some of the most common reasons people have for not quitting social media and also talked about numerous harms we tend to ignore.
He also addressed the benefits of quitting social media. Apparently, there is an uncomfortable withdrawal period, but then, once those few weeks are in the past, many positive things kick in. People who did quit social media became way more productive. Besides, as if by magic, life becomes more peaceful, as you don't see heated fights over construction, masks, government and so on, on regular basis during your leisure.
(I'm not going to retell the entire talk here, but if you are interested in the topic, I strongly recommend checking it out. It's called Why You Should Quit Social Media).
That talk made me once again think about the role and place of social media in my life. And while I wouldn't say I'm completely ready to quit the virtual social world, I promised myself to do my best to focus on reality, leaving social media aside. Especially now that it's summertime, the restrictions are lifted and we can actually hug our loved ones, hold hands, and spend hours talking about things that matter.
I'll let you know how it goes, but in the meantime, I wish you the same!
