Scrolling, typing and swiping trough the internet for hours and hours. Sometimes even multitasking and watching Netflix in the meantime. Doing something like your homework in two hours what have could been done in half an hour if you weren’t constantly taking a break to check on social media. Does this sound familiar? Well is does for me and I hate it. I hate the fact that I’m so attached to my phone, I even bring it with me to the toilet. But Why? It’s not like I need it while I’m peeing. I am not even that active on social media or whatever. It’s just a way of filling some time, a way to prevent boredome or a way to make awkward silences less awkward. But when I get that message on my phone with my screen time on it, I do find myself wondering what I could have done with all that spare time. I could have written a new blog, visit my grandparents or read a good book with the time have waisted on my phone.
This situation has been on my mind because I am currently reading Notes on a nervous planet by Matt Haig. The book is about the way social media effects us and how we can benefit but also suffer from it. The world is messing with our minds. Rates of stress and anxiety are rising. A fast, nervous planet is creating fast and nervous lives. We are more connected, yet feel more alone. And we are encouraged to worry about everything from world politics to our body mass index. Matt writes about the way we can stay sane on a planet that makes us mad, how we stay human in a technological world and how we can feel happy when we are encouraged to be anxious. While reading the book, I started to analyse my own internet use.
It is not particularly social media that is distracting me from the real world. I think it’s mainly google. I can spend hours and hours googleling stuff, like I start with ‘how to fold a burrito’ and end with an explanation about the weird white spots on my fingernails. I am a curious kind of gall and I am always left with lots of questions inside my head. When I am trying to keep my mind sain, I google, I google a lot…. The internet can answer every question right? Google can solve every problem right? Of course not, you may find some guidelines on the internet, but the world is real, life is real and eventually you have to do it all by yourself. I know that but thats doesn’t mean the curiousity doesn’t go away.
The thing with social media is that it gives me loads of inspiration, so much that it is hard to keep up. I scroll multiple times a day through Instagram and Pinterest. But we all know that social media is a fast world, much faster than the real world. So when my ideas start to show up, there pops another message on my screen and before I know it, I have forgotten my big idea. And the sad part is that I never get to perform my ideas, because I always tell myself I haven’t got the time. But I do have time to scroll through sociale media multiple times a day?
This is where I decided to do a little experiment. I had to hand in some portfolios last week and I knew that the could have been done much faster if I didn’t check my phone so often. I deleted Instagram and Facebook until I past my deadlines and handed in my portfolios. Well, I noticed that I checked my phone a few times and wanted to click on the app where Instagram used to be but I got used to it very fast. And I wrote my papers much faster. It was a nice break from the virtual world and it made me wonder if I would do a total digital detox. That I would delete all sociale media or maybe even put my phone a way for a few days. I do notice a certain fear of missing out or missing important messages.
Another counter side of social media is that we are really connected which each other, we share everything. Those good holidays, the nice dinners and our new haircuts are all on the internet. But we also share the bad stuff. The media is full of bad situations that take place all over the world. I will not say it is not important to know about them and it definitely is important to make awareness for it. But that means we also share the anxiety that comes with it.
“Imagine for instance, if there had been social media and camera phones during the Second World war. If people had seen, in full color, on smartphones, the consequences of every bomb, or the reality of every concentration camp, or the bloodied and mutilated bodies of soldiers, then the collective psychological experience would have expanded the horror far beyond those who were experiencing it first hand. The trouble with social media is that we are plugged in to a vast nervous system, our happiness- and misery- is more collective than ever. the group’s emotions become our own.”
Matt Haig
One of my favorite podcasts also made a episode about the digital world. Ella Mills talks about a digital detox in episode 5 from her podcast ‘Deliciously Ella’. Ella talks alongside with her guest ,Tanya Goodin, about finding balance and looking at the small steps we can take to reduce the anxiety that comes with social media. I would really recommend listening to the podcast in general. Ella always talks about interesting subjects and has great guest to empower the message.
A view tips that came forward in her podcast where to take little steps to reduce your social media use. For example: stop taking your phone to the bathroom, stop checking your phone when you are eating and try to put your phone away an hour before you go to sleep. I find the last one pretty hard because I always have my phone next to my bed for the alarm clock. But I think that these steps would already make a huge difference and it would maybe be better than a total digital detox. Because that would probably work the same it does with a diet . It would not work. You will feel ‘cleansed’ for a while but the minute you pick it up again, it will go back to normal.
This is just some food for thought and I hope it made you think about the effects of the digital world. I am going to try to delete my social media every time I need to get stuff done and try to get back to the real world more often.
Love,
Yoni
best friend/cousin Kim and I spent our holiday in the beautiful south of Spain. Marbella has all the classics of Spain, the sun, a lovely long beach and of course good food like Tapas and Pinchos. But Marbella has a twist to it, you can find Moroccan influences everywhere. This Spanish city also has two sides, a jetset side where you can find all the big brands and enjoy a good cocktail, and there is the beautiful old centre where you can shop in little boutiques.
restaurant is a bit kitch and tacky. La Tagliatella is a food chain, which sounds like it is fast food but it isn’t. The restaurant has many chique locations throughout Spain and we went to quite a lot Tagliatella. You can choose between a lot of different pasta’s and combine them with a sauce of your choice. We also went to ZoïZoï, which is a really cute restaurant with amazing pizza’s. I really recommend going there because of the nice waiters and the good vibe.
to shop some souvenirs. The souvenir shops are located in the old centre of Marbella just as the little boutiques. They are perfect when you want something that nobody else has. I bought a lovely bracelet in a little jewelry store. The owner sells sterling silver and gold plated items. I have already mentioned that you can find the luxury brands like Gucci in Puerto Banus. And the well know brands like Hollister and H&M are located in a Mall called ‘Parque Comercial la Cañada’. This is perfect for a rainy or cold day.
Y.E.M. 