I've written about this very topic on other occasions: the distinguishable difference between the present and past's ideaology of 'here and now,' and how the definition has drastically changed due to the role of social media. The concept itself is comprehensible. Before the internet, the last memory of someone would be in their flesh and blood. After that, their lives would become a mystery. The mind would fabricate scenarios as to what became of them. Often times, the next time we would hear their name would be upon their death. In today's day and age, comparably, the ability to keep in contact with people we would have otherwise left behind is mind-boggling. With the click of a mouse, I can rediscover an old friend from elementary school. I can track the lives of old boyfriends and preoccupy my mind with their recent marriages, and learn useless information about people I never really cared about. Honestly, I don't care to know about anything that I can't ask anybody personally.
So, why are social media sites so addicting?
I was recently listening to a program on NPR (forgive me for not linking to the original source) which discussed the current addiction to certain technological medias such as social web sites, email and text messaging. According to the expert, the hope that somebody has made a comment on one of our recent posts or the idea that we have received an email from an old friend results in a rush of adrenaline. This rush is more likely to be desirable when bored. It is the addiction to that adrenaline; the prospect something has happened results in the sudden urge to check our facebook statuses or email accounts. Really, it makes perfect sense. After all, nobody really expresses the desire for boredom. In the age of portable media, the adrenaline is but a click away. What prevents one from tapping in to a solution to boredom?
For this reason, I would estimate that I check my facebook a minimum of twice a day. Necessary? Of course not. In reality, it is the procrastination of mundane tasks such as completing a paper that results in constantly checking my 'newsfeed'. However, everything I learn about those individuals on my facebook is not only subjective, but single-sided. In other words, I get a part of the story and no major impact is made on my life. Rather, I am left desiring the memories of the past rather than the black-on-white status updates. Meaningless. Intangible. For this reason, it is my goal to wean myself from social media sites. Of course, completely giving up such technology in this day and age is unrealistic. Therefore, that is not my goal. Instead, I just wish to un-obsess myself from it: to only check up on old connections once a week rather than twice a day. That is the goal; we'll see how it goes.
