Good morning friends:) This week I was close to quitting twitter. No particular reason other than the fact that I was feeling tired of all the distractions. Some days, I don’t want to be seen or heard, I just want to be…and enjoy being. You might find this surprising since I am a blogger, and my line of work involves a good deal of social media and the internet. However, sometimes, there can be too much of a good thing. We can consume to much of what we enjoy and feel the effects afterwards. What happens if you don’t realize you are consuming too much? What if there are no obvious after effects? Read on, and leave your thoughts!
The unthinkable happened at a friend’s wedding last month. As the groom was asked to confirm his desire to accept the bride as his lawfully wedded wife, he held up his hand, as if to say “wait a minute.” The audible gasps among the attendees turned to relieved chuckles as he pulled out his iPhone in the middle of the vows. He was tweeting, “I Do,” to his hundred or so followers.
At a coffee catch-up yesterday, the person I met with was too busy typing meeting minutes in Google Docs to actually have a face-to-face conversation with me. Even after I received his play-by-play account of our meeting via email, I left feeling as if we wasted time and never went deep enough to discuss specific, critical issues.
On New Year’s Eve last year, as thousands of people counted down from ten to one, I looked across the Sydney Harbor foreshore. I was shocked that most revelers were taking photos of the fireworks instead of actually watching them.
….Are we entering an age where capturing the highlights of our lives has taken precedence over actually enjoying those very same moments? The problem is, we must choose between capturing these moments or viscerally experiencing them as they unfold.
You will want to read this full post by Daniel Galati. He points to the elephant in the room of what our culture is experiencing….an overdose of social media. There is of course a way to keep things balanced, and if done so, it can be a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, or network for your business. Every person has a different level of involvement. For instance, my mother – zero. If you want to talk to her, you give her a call or email her. My sister Angela takes a break from facebook every summer to invest in her friendships in person, and to enjoy life with no distractions. Sometimes, we need to step away to actually know how much it is a part of our lives. If you have time, read Kate Gabrielle’s post on her clean break from social media and her results.
(source via Bonnie Tsang)
So tell me, what are your thoughts on this? How do you balance the time you spend on social media?
Ultimately, its always a good challenge to ourselves is to take time to make a phone call, visit a friend, or even email someone you love. Invest more time in experiencing real life:)
