Social Media: The Attention Killer
Life @ Social_Media
Social media began as a bridge to fill the gap of distance and time between people. Also, to enhance interaction with friends and loved ones. But is it doing the task it is supposed to? The answer is NO. Followers, Likes, comments, chats have enormously indulged in our life, that we don’t even try to open this secret envelope.
Social Media is just like drugs, even if you know it harms; you can’t give it up.
How do they earn?
All the social media platforms are free to use, but how do they manage their technical costs and how do they pay their developers? Yes, you guessed it right- The Advertisements. The platform isn’t free to use; It has become a medium to rent your eyes and attention to the advertisers in exchange of giving you some social connection. Though, this social attention may not be real in true sense. You get some likes and followers and feel like a profound member of society.
Even if you have a bigger fish to fry, you keep wasting your precious time in Fake Social Attention.
What do we get?
Social Media helps us to know too many crucial things. E.g. someone’s Dinner/Lunch, someone’s speed while driving, the new filter in the market, or what is the trending topic for memes. But is it really important to know such things? It depends on you.
How it harms?
The companies behind it would try to keep you hooked to their application so that they can use you like their product. Also, there are various physical and mental issues arising through it indirectly. Researchers have proved that it increases depression and loneliness in a person.Rumours are also using the same platform to flow through the public. Rumours create polarization of minds and lead to differences in society. This also leads to some riots and political imbalances. It is said that rumours spread quite faster than the truth.
Let’s dive deeper
Humans have an evolutionary background, where they have learnt that socialisation is crucial for survival. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter and hormone released by the brain. Dopamine is the reason for the addiction of drugs and now social media. The brain is trained to release dopamine hormone in pleasurable situations and make you feel happy.
Now, this could be triggered by social media consumption. Now, the brain knows that without much effort, you could trigger happiness with just a few swipes. This forcibly motivates you to use an intelligent piece of code. These platforms also track in every possible way to get more and more data of liking and dislikes. The algorithms of platforms are finely tuned according to your usage statistics, to keep you stick to the screen. This generates more revenue to them and addiction to you. They can even manipulate your subconscious mind to make cherry-pick decisions in their favour. They are no longer a tool to communicate with people. Social Media has made humans more vulnerable in society.
What can we do?
Social Media might sound like a trap but there’s always a way to escape. Using social media is not a big deal, but spending productive hours in it is stupidity. Everything lies with you because you control your brain. You could make a world of difference with some basic steps:
- Uninstall/Delete:
You might have some applications which you don’t use for any productive work. And if you feel it as a time-waste, then you should uninstall such applications. Uninstalling could be the best solution but there are some more.
2. Disable Notifications:
If you feel an application is not essential for daily work, then you could easily disable the notifications from settings. This would reduce distraction and will give you the control when to use and when not to.
3. Positive Laziness:
Laziness is the way of working for smart heads. You could use a simple trick to reduce your social media usage. You can increase the difficulties in using such applications. Like using lengthy password app locks, app locking with timer, using the web version to login repeatedly, etc. This might seem uncomfortable at the beginning but in the longer term, it would be helpful.
4. Unsubscribe Updates:
When you try to give up the application, then it starts to send emails and SMS’s. You could go to the settings of the social media app and unsubscribe to emails and messages. This will restrict them to ping you repeatedly and help you to hold your decision.
Take the Pledge!
We are the future of our country. The development of a country depends on where the youth is utilising powerful minds. Don’t let any piece of code snatch your attention and sell it to the world. Take responsibility for your attention, and try to use it in constructive applications for self-development and the nation’s development. According to some experts, it is said “Attention is Currency”; spend it wisely. Let’s take a pledge to reduce and have control of our social media consumption.
Thank you for reading the article….Take Care
