the Informer

What’s the first thing you do when you open your eyes in the morning?

I bet it’s not the standard practice as an individual a mere ten years ago. Instead of moseying out of the front door in your bathrobe to collect the morning paper, you pop open your laptop and head directly for your social media network of choice. Even before exiting the warmth of your covers, you’re connected and chatting with your friend two doors down.

It’s a habit and to be honest I’m guilty of it myself however, it begs the question, how much social media is too much?

According to recent data released by Facebook, the site has over 800 million users worldwide and of those users 50 percent are active on any given day.

For someone who has been slow on the bandwagon since the beginning, it has always remained nothing more than a source of mindless distraction. I joined facebook upon entering college as a means to stay connected with friends and family back home and it serves me well in that regard, but the hours spent in silence surrounded by my peers on Facebook lead me to the conclusion, society is far too computer oriented.

I dream for the days where conversation and interaction were the predominant characteristic of ones evening. It wasn’t that long ago that the human race did without these smartphones, tablets and laptops, which now seem so essential in our everyday lives. Our parents’ generation found ways to pass the time without staring at a computer screen so why can’t we?

Just think of all the things you could’ve been accomplished during your time spent online. The hours spent scanning picture and posts of your “friends” could’ve been time spent discovering a new hobby, enjoying the outdoors or even studying.

Social media accounts for one out of every six minutes spent online in the U.S., according to journalism.co.uk.

Our generation is so computer oriented that we’re letting the world pass right by without a second glance. For a society that is constantly evolving and changing, social media such as instant messaging, Facebook and Twitter acts as means of holding the user back, saturating them in the past, having the focus be on past photographs, past messages, past relationships be it friendly or otherwise. Although some may see it as nostalgia driven, I happen to view this in terms of the High School football star effect, now working a dead end job, Facebook is a way for them to look back on the glory days but never move passed it, never put the emphasis on the bigger picture.

To give credit where credit is due, certain aspects of social media have had a positive impact on the world in certain areas. Twitter, for instance now plays a pivotal role in reporting news at an incredibly fast manner. Breaking the news has never been easier, and even Facebook has become a great promotional tool for small and large businesses alike.

However, when the majority of free time is spent surfing the web rather than on any one of the millions of other stimulating activities available, that is where the problem lies.-cc