Monday 10th December: Warning – this update does not contain photography.
I live a predominantly digital life these days, more so than pretty much all my friends back home. My job is all about online communities so I live and breathe social media and the web. In fact so much so that some would argue that one can no longer survive without it, the term addict springs to mind…
I have always maintained that I do not have an addictive personality, that there is nothing that I am dependent upon and other than the essentials, cannot live without if the need arises.
Last week a friend of mine announced they were taking a break from Facebook for a while. I found myself immediately developing what can only be described as a cold sweat. The thought of not sharing my lunch, or my most stupid thoughts and those, oh so important news articles, that everyone else has already seen, genuinely scared the hell out of me.
Out of the doubt and fear a challenge formed in my mind. How hard can it be, just how much does social media enhance my life and my social contact with the outside world. There is, as they say only one way to find out.
Last Friday, I made the decision to find out for myself. Around lunchtime I pledged to stop using both Facebook and Twitter for the whole weekend. This proved disappointingly difficult. By Saturday morning, I was catching myself finding ways of cheating. I was “glancing” at Facebook on my mobile, and on my iPad, I was sharing things via 3rd party apps. By mid-morning, I was left with no doubt in my mind; I was in some weird way, completely dependent on social media.
Sometimes, I find myself in a situation where, I genuinely don’t like myself. This was one of those moments, and something I needed to rectify, immediately.
So, in a nutshell, the challenge and the experiment continue. It is now 2 weeks until Christmas, I have hereby challenged myself to remain “on holiday” from both Facebook and Twitter until we break up from work for Christmas.
This article, which I will share to both those platforms, serves two purposes:
1) To set this challenge to myself, in a form which I cannot refute or deny later
2) To let my friends and family know that I will not see their updates for a little while, and so will be entirely dependent on Phone calls, text messages or emails (if you’re desperate) in order to say hello or to share your news.
I very much hope it isn’t Christmas before I speak to you all again, either way, I will have learned a little more about myself by then. See you all soon!
PS. In the act of sharing this article, I will not be, catching up or replying to any notifications, so, apologies if you are waiting for a response, feel free to phone me and tell me directly! xxx
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