This may seem a little redundant for a blogger to write and her audience to read, but I promise I’m not here to scold you for never leaving your room or mock you for never being able to hang out with friends without posting it on Snapchat. I’m just here to try and shed a little light on the reasons for unplugging and why now may be the best time to do so.
I have my fair share of social media platforms (follow me on Insta or Snap if you get the chance!). I don’t post something every day, but I do enjoy a daily scroll through the newest updates in the lives of my 500 plus friends. And sometimes I’ll find myself spending almost an hour, rather than the five minutes I intended, clicking tags or reading about Cosmo’s newest theory on how what kind of underwear you have on can help you find your soulmate. My entire day can be wasted away, eyes glued to my phone, with the opening of just one app.
Again, I’m not berating, as I’ve obviously been a victim myself. But my social media habits do get me thinking- if I’m on social media at least once a day, sometimes for multiple hours, and I still feel like I don’t have a very large presence online, what does that mean for my colleagues who are Twitter certified? How does one even attain that kind of status? How much time do you spend just coming up with witty one-liners worthy of the world’s retweets?
Even if I’m having one of those days where I think I can swing an all day Snapchat story, it takes a lot of time and focus looking for the right moments to capture and making sure I’ve captured it well. Personally, these days are also far and few between. It may be different for you world travelers, but I don’t usually spend my Tuesday afternoons sky diving or meeting with the Queen. And even if I were to have the opportunity to hang out with Her Majesty I certainly wouldn’t spend it commenting on my best friends latest Facebook post (maybe one Snapchat selfie).
Our brains only have a limited attention span, and while we may think we can give our full focus on more than one thing at a time, we just can’t. Life is happening right now, my friends. And especially with it being the time known for exotic travels and new experiences, we shouldn’t let ourselves be restricted to what’s on an LED screen. Posting and sharing isn’t bad- I love doing it and I love seeing it. But if that’s all we do anything for, perhaps our priorities aren’t exactly in line.
samanthasabio 