Week 6

This week in class we discussed a topic that I found very interesting: are we missing out on life by being so addicted to social media? This is a topic I have thought about many times before, so I was glad to be able to discuss it with others and get new perspectives on it. Personally, I do not think I am addicted to social media. There are days that I do not check anything all day long. I do enjoy going through my timelines when I have time, and I admit that it is a great way to pass time. However, I think there is a difference between "passing time" and "wasting time." I use social media for only minutes (maybe seconds) at a time sporadically throughout the day. I am not the type of person who knocks out an hour on social media. I believe that is a waste of time. In an hour, I could get a homework assignment done, chat with friends on campus, eat lunch, make it to the gym, and so many other things that I could not accomplish in a few minutes. Those random few minutes are what I dedicate to social media.
    I know there are probably more people unlike me in this sense than there are like me. Many of my friends seem to always be on social media. It is like an addiction. I truly think we are wasting our lives when we spend so much time in an alternate reality. I admit, there are good things that come out of social media and the internet, but there are also really bad things. It all lies in the way we choose to use it. I do not want to miss out on memories with my family in real time. I want to always choose to be present. Real life first, alternate life last. The moment that really sculpted this way of thinking was when I went to a concert of my absolute FAVORITE band. It was one of the most exciting days of my life. My boyfriend, Alex, actually surprised me with tickets for my birthday. When we got to the concert, I of course starting taking pictures. I wanted to remember this special moment for the rest of my life. During the concert, I took a video of a segment of the first few songs. Finally, Alex told me I was missing out on so much so that I could get a good video. From that point on, I put my phone down and just enjoyed. I got so much more out of the real-life experience then I ever could out of a video. To this day, I have never gone back and looked at the videos (although I have travelled down memory lane plenty of times since then). I am so glad I did not waste the life experience. Basically, I think social media can completely overtake our lives if we let it.  We are so afraid of forgetting a memory that we fail to make new ones. I think social media should be used for change and not for escape.