Monday, September 20, 2010
SNS Time Consumption
I enjoy the luxury and fun in being able to connect with old friend, new friends, classmates, and family through social networking (facebook). However, what I hate about it the way it has programmed my mind to rely on it. In the morning, I cannot leave the house without checking my email accounts and facebook. Same in the evening. I doesn't matter how late I may be running or how tired I am. The part that's bad is that I normally find myself consuming way too much time on these sites, when I only intended on doing a simply check for any new messages or updates.
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I find myself having the same problem, I guess we have to be deliberate in the choices we make about how we use our time. I tend to trick myself into thinking it will only take a second but once I am on there it seems like there is this pull to go further. Even after you have read even the wall of someone you spoke to twice in high school and every comment where you think there should be a cut off point, I can still find some excuse to stay around. It's dangerous and alluring to me and if I allow myself to get on during the day my productivity goes way down. But everything is a choice, and because we have agency we can determine how we spend our time and I can determine to spend less time being distracted and side tracked by meaningless status updates to re-enforce a social presence digitally. I know I have friends, I do not need for my News Feed to be constantly updated to reaffirm that. I hope my children won't feel a pressure to maintain that digital world to a point where it distracts or takes away from the real life experience. I think the digital should work with, and to improve the situation, and not to add an invisible added pressure to our lives. But the choice is in us not the technology, in the end,
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, i SNS have the exact opposite effect on me. i am able to not get on my facebook account for long periods of time. one time, i did not logg onto my facebook the entire summer. people were looking for me and trying to contact me. lots of people were asking me why dont i log on. i simply reply that i have alot of other things to do. alot of tiems i find these SNS like facebook, to be a great distraction. they are very time consuming and i also think that once you log in they have all of these mechanism to suck you in and keep you on there for hours at a time. mechanisms such as games and instant messaging. another reason why i think i have not become addicted to these SNS is because i know that alot of people use these sites to probe in the lives of others. so to avoid people from meddling in my business, i do not put anything on my page. i do feel that facebook could be beneficial to some, but for me, it has not been of much use.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely has been programmed into my mind as well. I try and avoid it, but sometimes even when I am in the middle of something else I find myself clicking facebook into the browser. It is crazy how much time you spend on facebook doing nothing, just clicking back and forth.
ReplyDeleteI suffer from the same problem. I believe we are capable of fixing the problem but not really wanting to LoL. I was already addicted to Facebook and what made it worse was when I got Mobile Internet on my phone. With it on my phone, any down time I have I check Twitter and Facebook.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is that we are kind of forced to use technology. All of our papers must be typed, some classes require powerpoint presentations, and we have to use our emails for school purposes. Even within TUmail, we can now instant message each other. Blackboard alone causes me to go on SNS because while I wait for that to load, I can be wasting time on SNS.
I feel like I could save money and get rid of mobile web on my phone and cut down on my SNS intake. The problem is that I'm drawn to these sites to be included and my friends are there so I feel like I should make my presence known too LoL
I definitely agree with your statement. Facebook is so time consuming! It has become part of my daily routine... in fact it is the first thing I do when I wake up (kind of depressing). Facebook, brush teeth, shower, go to class, etc. We are at a place in time where the technology and especially social networks have almost become part of our natural being.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though I am incomplete without checking Facebook or my email. What could I be missing? Who could be trying to contact me? It is almost a relief when I go to the beach for a week and do not have internet access. But then again, the first thing I do after arriving home is check to see how many notifications I received in that week's worth of time. Sad. :(