Time is priceless and social media is a waste of time. Know why?
By: Tandrima Banerjee
Tags: Facebook, Family, Addiction, Time Management, Social Media

Social media is an addiction and a common subject being talked about in the 21st century!

It is like an ocean wherein we tend to dive and dive until we explore its contents to the fullest and get satisfied. In the morning, the act of waking up to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter has been embedded in most of us. We are so much deeply engaged in our heads with the heaviness of social media that even one eye gives a good vision of social media pages while still on bed. This might sound strange but we know the hard core truth.

Why is social media gaining so much unwanted attention day by day? Even teenagers are bent towards opening their accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok (to name a few) even without having full knowledge of the platforms and only based on word-of-mouth publicity. Being inquisitive of the attractive force of social media, parents (not present-day ones) and grandparents are getting inclined towards having their accounts too.

What is the end result?

In addition to wastage of precious time and energy of teenagers and young adults, seniors (or elderly) are affected too. It has become exceedingly hard to turn our eyes and attention from gadgets. For instance, it is now a common scene in every family get-together, where a teenager or a young adult remains totally engrossed in his/her mobile phone instead of participation. They end up losing the most vital, intangible and expensive part, ‘Time’ which will forever be gone. Not only that, we find ourselves seated beside our parents and each one of us allowing our phones to engage our minds making us exist in our respective worlds rather than being aware of the surroundings.

What’s wrong with us? Have we wiped out the gravity of our near and dear ones or have we become more selfish? Let’s give it a thought.

We all agree that everything comes with pros and cons and the same rule is applied to ‘selfish’. As long as we are involved in activities for personal development without ignoring our loved ones, being selfish is absolutely fine. Many of us are negatively impacted by the kinds of images, videos and texts posted by people whom we do not know personally (on Instagram, Twitter) and friends (on Facebook). We are more focused on receiving ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ on our posts or the number of views on our stories and most importantly, who are the viewers?

Are we uploading pictures and videos to get others’ reactions? No.

Friends, we also keep judging others’ lives based on their posts on social media. Let us stop being judgmental! We, unknowingly, become so much influenced that we forget to differentiate what is good and bad for us and our loved ones. All of us have issues to deal with but these are not depicted through social media. Let’s stop comparing our lives with others and not get swayed by easily. It is the right time for self-realization and put an end to unnecessary burdening our heads with irrelevant matter. Spending time fruitfully and efficiently reflects one’s level of wisdom.

Unlike others, I am not suggesting to undergo a total digital detox but an overuse of social media is not advisable. If you have time for yourself, get involved in things which will help you grow into an even better person than you were yesterday.

Time to ponder.

That’s all folks!