"The world's best minds are working to keep you busy on social media" - somewhere I read on the internet.
Do you have an addiction?
Social media addicts are everywhere. Look around, your brother, sister, wife, kids, friends, colleagues every single one !! Ok, I exaggerated a bit !! In general old age, people don't have much addiction to phones, for instance, my mom & dad still uses a phone with a keypad only to call someone. But in general, most of us are busy staring at ~6-inch screen. Be it watching:-
Some crazy guy sharing a live feed of driving his new car at 180km/hr
A flying man in pajama rescues his friend who is intentionally lying down on a railway track knowing there won't be any train coming for the next 4 hrs.
Shorts and reels are the new trends, we have more watchers than readers!!
What's wrong with it?
Nothing wrong with getting yourself entertained and having some dopamine released in your brain. Everybody needs some kind of enjoyment in their free time. Nothing is wrong with it until it's done in excess. But again what's wrong with social media? Let's fast-forward some time in the future to a social media rehab center, where Bob is about to share his confession about his addiction, pay attention !!
"Hi, I am Bob and I am a social media addict. I have had it for 10 years. I try to hide it but I can't. You will be surprised to know my thumb takes a long walk every day on a 6-inch mobile screen. He's so aware of his fitness that he doesn't care if it's day or night. I keep track of my thumb steps and count calories burnt daily in my thumb fitness tracker but it is always 10x times more than the threshold.
My neck reminds me that it's time to go to my physiotherapist who also likes to post his therapy tips on social media. Sometimes I wonder where would he go if he get muscle pain !! My eyes don't complain much as they have the superpower to see the world. I just have to sit in one special pose & I can forget what is happening outside. It's like going to the quantum world in the AntMan movie. I don't care what is happening outside.
I may leave the gas stove on, forget to tie my shoe, forget to turn off the lights, may not look up but still can walk as I have secret eyes on my head when I walk around staring at my phone. I may get on the wrong train, forget to get down on the 6th floor, and can wait till the lift goes all the way to the last (20th) floor and come back when someone is also getting down on the 6th floor. Otherwise, It's ok to go to the basement and wait till some fellow press the 6th-floor button. If I am traveling I may forget my brush but the phone charger never. I have a daily competition with my phone about who sleeps first and my phone always wins because of the damn battery !! I am so relieved to let it out, thank you for listening."
Snap🫰 !! Hello !! Let's get back to reality, we don't have to wait till Bob gets a Newcomer Chip !!
Now take a pause and think for a moment about what Bob confessed. Does something similar to this happen to you? If yes, congrats my friend you are not alone!!
Officially I quit social media around 2016 when my friend Anurag told me how addicted I was. I would be lying if I say I don't use it. I use it whenever I need to search for someone or a school friend, but I do not have any mobile app related to social media except Twitter (the reason I will reveal it in a while). Whenever I have to use social media, I go to the browser and type my password and log out once done. Surprisingly it's 2023 and after all these years I am still alive and people know I still exist without social media.
I still use Twitter but for a different purpose. After quitting social media in 2016, I wanted to form a good habit (thanks to James Clear's Atomic Habits). I am a software developer by profession and from the beginning, I like reading about tech stuff. So Ironically after quitting social media, I unfollowed all the celebrities on Twitter and started following all the tech experts so that I could keep myself up to date. I started using Twitter to follow the latest trends. But again I was a bit careful as I didn't want to get into the trap of overusing it. So I fixed half an hour in the evening after work & half an hour in the morning. I thought anyway I am good at scrolling let's scroll some good shit!!
It helped me in so many ways. I have had the pleasure to find so many humble Tech Gods from whom I have learned so much. The more I read the more I grew. I can honestly say I have an addiction and it has helped me find my true passion i.e. reading, writing, mentoring, and sharing knowledge. It's until recently that I got the courage to start writing myself and sharing my thoughts on Twitter. Honestly writing gives me so much satisfaction and thought clarity to share something out in the open. I still want to thank my friend, Anurag, if it weren't for him maybe you might have found me somewhere on the internet as a flying man saving someone on the railway track !!
All this Twitter shit I just explained, I just created self-defense for myself in case after reading this post, you find me on Twitter and call me a hypocrite !!
What makes you an expert?
You are right, I can't play an actor who drinks regularly & advise his audience to stop drinking. As I mentioned earlier I still use Twitter to keep myself surrounded by passionate people. That disqualifies me to give you any advice on how to avoid social media addiction. So if you are hoping to get any advice sorry to disappoint you. I am not qualified to give you any advice, but I am qualified enough to let you know how you can find out if you are addicted !!
First and foremost you have to accept you have an addiction, that's the first step to recovery!! If I wanted, I could have shared a few copied steps from chatGPT about how to avoid social media addictions, but that's not the reason I wrote the whole crap of ~1100 words. You are the best judge for yourself. Everyone has a unique talent and hidden creativity. You will have to just find it yourself so that It won't get dusted under the endless tsunami of shorts & reels. Who knows you may find a hidden writer inside you ? or maybe a painter or an inventor or a CEO. If you still don't believe me take a pause and ask yourself, "Am I an addict ?"
PS : This post is not generated by chatGPT because I didn't want to waste gallons of water 😉 !! This is my first blog post so forgive me If I was out of the line or my grammar hurted you in some way.You can use my advice at your own risk !!
