I have not been very quiet about my exit from Facebook. I do not and will not buy a home assistant. And next, I need to leave Twitter. I will also remove people I really don’t care about from Instagram to really follow only family and friends. I need to take the exit ramp off of as much social media as possible. Why? Read this recent article from The Guardian.
Did You Read It or Just Take My Word for It?
Most people read only headlines and a 1500 word article falls to the wayside. Seriously, go back and read the article. See if you fit any of the indicators because you need to know.
They have designed a system where you feel compelled to check who “liked” something or if anything new exists. Notifications are colored red because we are taught that is a warning color. Our minds have begun to change based on our addiction to that small device. And most scary – the average person touches their phone over 2,000 times a day.
As one of the people in the article say, we have a powerful tool. But we use it like a drug.
How My Life Has Changed After Leaving Social Media
My life has drastically improved since I left Facebook. I have read 14 books in 5 months. In 2016, I read one. I have begun a beneficial meditation ritual. And most importantly, I’m not nearly as depressed as I was. The friends that I had recognized I lost but maintained a tangential and depressing view through Facebook no longer bother me in the same way.
Now, I don’t see how their life works anymore. You know, like we did a few years back, where if you had a friend who no longer put the time into your relationship, you just didn’t hear or see them anymore. Facebook just kept them right in front of my eyes where I wondered why they didn’t respond to my emails or phone calls. It felt refreshing to be able to just extinguish the relationships and no longer dwell on what was or could be. Instead, I just feel like living for the day and for tomorrow. I can focus on the select relationships that truly matter.
I hope whoever you are reading this post that can only be found on Twitter carefully examines their use of their phone and the Internet. In the next few weeks, I believe I will have exorcised the Twitter beast. I may continue to have it because I do like the connectivity to comic book professionals and some news sources, but it will become a twice a day glance instead of a every ten minute need.
Urgency needs to fade away for simple contemplation and joy.
The post I Don’t Care if You Like This Post – The Poison of Social Media appeared first on Rock The Western World.