The social not-work (Week 10)

"I'm not talking about a dating site. I'm talking about the whole experience of college and putting it online."


Whether or not Mark Zuckerberg actually said that, I think The Social Network nicely captured the essence of social media in the age of Facebook. We have become socially fixated in much the same way we obsessed about sex in college. Okay, maybe it was good grades for you. For me, it was sex.

Even though I'm technically an old dude now, I've glommed onto social media in ways I haven't even been fully aware of. Facebook is the grandaddy, but Twitter gets its fare share, along with Pinterest, LinkedIn and others. I didn't even realize that Strava was part of the picture, but when I think about how I post my runs and rides, share photos of my athletic adventures, give thumbs up and comments to others in my circle, it's clear that it's just like all the others. The only no-fly zone for me is Instagram, but only because I promised my teenage daughter she could have one "safe space" where I wouldn't creep on her.

So, what would a week look like if I just turned it all off? Ignored the feeds, the email notifications, the incessant reminders popping up in my phone that someone had something "important" to share? As it turns out, it was no big whoop.

I could just end this post right here because it's essentially a non-story. Social media is the easiest and most refreshing thing in the world to abandon. That's about all that needs to be said. But let's just look at my own scorecard for the 7 Negative Effects of Social Media. I suspect yours could be similar.

1. Depression and Anxiety: 0
The sheer effort it takes to keep up with social media would be taxing on any psyche. Me, I just close the laptop and go for a bike ride.

2. Cyberbullying: 0
I understand this is a legitimate thing. I just don't know if it applies to grey-haired gents who smoke a pipe.

3. Fear of Missing Out. 1
Okay, I often rely on social media for a news fix. But in a week that saw a gunman in New Zealand liveshare his act on Facebook, I'm pretty glad I missed out on that one.

4. Unrealistic Expectations: 1
It's true. After an hour of scanning Facebook feeds, I wonder why I'm not permanently on vacation like all my friends seem to be. I also wonder why I don't have a cat, a dog, or a horse.

5. Negative Body Image: 0
I used to be thin. Now I'm not. I used to be young. Now I'm not. I'm dealing with it and social media is not amplifying the problem. But I get how it could be when I see the stuff in my daughter's feeds.

6. Unhealthy Sleep Patterns: 0
The only thing that keeps me up at night is working on my blog.

7. General Addiction: 0
I can stop any time. Really!

NEXT WEEK: Cold showers every day!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We ❤️ Julie (Week 51)

Image
"Most people I've met who weren't kind to animals weren't kind to people either. Kindness is kindness. Simple as that." It seems perfectly fitting that I close out 52 Weeks of Goodness with sage words from the often-irreverent-but-always-topical Ricky Gervais. A known dog lover and animal rights advocate, he's also currently co-starring with Brandy the rescued German Shepherd in the wonderful comedy drama AfterLife . The show came along at the same time Val and I adopted a rescue of our own, a tiny little scruffy mutt from Mexico who came to us as Julie. And Julie she shall remain. When Gervais says stuff like " dogs will save humanity " I totally get it. They have the power to make us all better human beings, especially when we give them a second chance on life. For us, that meant a local rescue operation called Mex-Can , which takes in abandoned and mistreated pooches from the Guanajuato region of central Mexico. We were introduced to Marlen...
Read more

Done for good (Week 52)

Image
"There are two fatal errors that keep great projects from coming to life: 1) Not finishing 2) Not starting." Those really don't sound like words that would come from Buddha's mouth, but he still gets credit for the quote. Who cares, right? It's just so true. A year ago, when I started Goodness52, the finish line seemed an eternity away, and it took some intestinal fortitude to see it through to the end. And now here I am. Time to look back on a year that began with running every day for seven days and ended with a little dog coming into our lives . As far as I know, this kind of New Year's Resolution is a new thing. So, getting started meant having the idea in the first place. That came during a run in the first week of January last year, when I realized that running every day for a full year would likely put me in my grave. I settled on something new every week instead, and what a journey that became! After running for seven straight days, I went in...
Read more

Soaking in the forest (Week 22)

Image
"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." We have always been drawn to forests in the way described by Scottish-American John Muir, the "Father of the National Parks." And never more than now, with the Japanese phenomenon of shinrin-yoku spreading across the globe. This week, I spent many a contemplative moment searching for my soul during an activity that raises a lot of eyebrows when you tell people you're going "forest bathing." Once I explained that the activity involves no nudity or even water, I saw some slow nods of understanding. This zen-like bathing is simplicity itself – you are merely soaking in the natural environment and communing with the elemental forces of nature. I decided for a DIY approach to forest bathing, even though a quick scan of Vancouver Island therapist listings reveals that there are several qualified practitioners of shinrin-yoku who would be happy to share their insights with me for a pretty...
Read more