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A day without social networks
Why would I open my social network? What do I want to find?

How social media affects in my life


Author: Jessica Ponce | Source: New Fire



A day without social networks 
Why would I open my social network? What do I want to find? 

 
I dare you to live one day without cellphone! It would seem easy to fulfill... Try to get to a friend´s house without using the GPS, read news from the newspaper or in a magazine... Even better! Try to remember the house phone for any of your friends or family. Did you manage to do it? This does not end here... When was the last time you printed a photo? 
 
If you are between your 20s or 30s you already lived and did many of the things mentioned above without a cellphone. 
 
We all have a good reason to take out our cellphone. For example, you can better organize your day; learn many things with video tutorials, from how to change a tire to how to make a cake. You will agree with me that you cannot put away your phone, because it is NEC-ES - SA-RY.

What about social networks?


Do we need to know how many likes my profile photo has? How many snaps did I receive today? Who retweeted my morning meme? Did anyone tag me in all the pictures from last night? Which Pinterest wall do I need? How many times have they seen my video? Moreover, it seems that a day is not enough to finish reviewing all of your profiles.

I read some news about it: "Apple says that we unlock our phones 80 times a day; every 12 minutes, which equals 5 hours a day on the cellphone." "Teenagers between 8-18 years spend 9 hours connected..." "We spend 3 hours a day reviewing social networks." Each page has its data and I do not dare to tell the sources because I doubt in their veracity. What interested me was finding out the reason of: Why do I open my social network? What do I want to find? 


My answer was painful. I realized that with every like, retweet, comment or share... something inside me flourishes. It feels good that others see the grace of my publications, them responding about how they got inspired with my morning sentence, or simply know that there are hundreds following what I do, so I decided to observe 2 things:



1. Motivation to like, comment or share something: 
 
Wanting to receive notifications. 
See what happens in other people’s lives. 
Finding posts by people who I have not seen in a while or them telling me they want to know about me or how it is going. 
Find entertaining things that others do to make them too. 
Simply spend time between pet videos, recipes, and tutorials of "do it yourself". 

2. Analysis of these motivations:

I just wanted to distract myself, literally to spend time. 
 
Gossip, many things that others publish are not necessarily of my concern. 
I realized that the photos where people looked very entertained, where not much genuine with faces of extreme joy, selfies showing much love there... poses that I´ve ever done to show “how well I´m doing". 
There is an unlimited number of short videos and watching them is addictive. 
 
FINALLY: my time was better invested in reading a book, paying attention to those who were around me or just taking a while to be quiet with myself.

What was the action after these conclusions? 


On my phone, I do no longer have the applications of each social network where I have an account. It is true, my wall is now the most boring one, I do not receive any notifications and according to the biography of Facebook, I will not have memories to share for futures years…but I have enjoyed freeing myself from the impulse to constantly reviewing a screen. 
 
A quote by Melody Beattie helped me to understand this battle which seeks to make other reacts: 
 
"The codependent is the one that has allowed another person's behavior to affect him and who is obsessed with controlling the behavior of that person". 
 
ATTENTION, I am not saying that all those who check their cellphone constantly have psychological problems and disordered attachments…but it is worth asking ourselves how much do I depend on my notifications? What happens to me emotionally if I do not receive them? I invite you to think about it a bit and you'll find your answers. 

Reality

If you turn off your phone for a while nothing happens. Take the test and you will see that you don't need to post everything you do. Try to capture the moment in your memory, just seeing how you and your friends have fun talking for hours, no need to take a photo of what you eat, drink, or wear to then publish it. 
 
 The Bible gave me good advice 

To close, I want to share a biblical quote that includes the sense of intimacy and value that I now give to my loved ones. "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you”. (Mt 7, 6) 
 
It may sound very strong but ultimately it serves to understand. When I was sharing pictures of my family, my friends, what I like to do, I was also exposing everything that I value the most to millions of eyes that now have the right to do what they want with that information. If I sometimes criticized clothing, tastes or the friendships of others, they, of course, can do the same with my publications.
 
Care what is sacred; don't put it in the hands of those who do not deserve it. People are the most valuable thing and if you find that the great treasure of your life is your boyfriend, your spouse, the relationship with your children, your friends... it becomes risky that you expose them to others who do not value them as much as you. 
 
Remember that we can harm and social networks constantly promote emotional reactions. Even the boxes are suggestions: "What are you thinking?" 'Tell us what you feel' "Share what happened to you". If the medium itself invites you to guide you through the fleeting emotion, then it is easy that envy, resentments of the past and selfishness are reasons enough to give others the ability to trample on the most precious thing you have. When you expose your most valuable treasure, there is no way to protect it and keep it safe. So the next time you are going to publish on any social network, think well: do I want that all my contacts to have access to this bit of my privacy? 
 
If you liked this article, I invite you to get started with your challenge of cutting off cellphone time. You will decide what you erase and depending on your progress, you'll see if it works better for you to set schedules, block notifications or gradually reducing the number of daily publications. Other publications that may interest you are the obsession with the "match" and 5 keys to a Christian diet. Continue reading New Fire and recommend it to your friends if this or other articles worked for you to improve your life.








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