What kind of impact does social media have on your life? How many hours per day do you spend on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc?
The biggest time sink in my life is Facebook. I spend way too many hours on it. I don’t spend as much time using Instagram but I did actually delete my older Twitter profile because I found that I was spending too much time posting random stuff.
A few months ago I did make a concerted effort to spend less time on Facebook and I felt better, I had more time to read and do other hobbies but somehow I slipped back into my old ways. It has had a negative impact on some of my relationships. I don’t always give my full attention to people when I am with them. Oftentimes I find myself checking e-mails or other notifications and not giving the person who I am with my full attention. This is something I am working on.
This trend of not giving 100% of your attention is bad in adults but it’s a widespread issue among teens and students today. Students don’t know how to form meaningful relationships without their phones. In my classroom students don’t converse normally. I’ve witnessed students texting, snapping and messaging people sitting just a few feet away. They also don’t know how to live in a world without instantaneous connection. There’s no time for them to reflect on decisions or interactions. Everything can be communicated in real time without reflection. This is a little scary to me. I am striving, myself to find more balance between the real world and my online life.
To shine a light on some of the positive parts of social media, I have found great uses for Twitter and Instagram and have been enjoying their more productive side. I use Twitter to keep up with professional interests and to build my PLN and I use Instagram as an educational travel blog. I find using social media for educational and professional purposes can be quite productive.
What about you? Have you found better uses for social media or do you find it to be a waste of time? Let me know in the comments below!
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