Feature
Social Media
Obsession
Prioritizing the virtual world over the real one.
By Hee Jung Byun
S
ocial media is everywhere. It saturates the
air around us, knocking at our door asking us to
check on it every other second. It's hard to
concentrate on mathematics or biology when a
little red circle indicates that a friend just tagged
you in something. So they tell ourselves, “It’ll
just be five minutes. I’ll only take a five minute
break”. However, five minutes becomes ten
minutes and ten becomes twenty. People notice
the time flying but still prioritize that
momentary joy of seeing a fun picture of a cat
rather than spending that time to actually learn
and grow. School, family, and friends suddenly
become less relevant than whom Taylor Swift is
dating or who attended Harry Styles’ birthday
party. They set goals for the number of likes
they can get on Facebook or Instagram instead
of the things that actually matter. So, people
generally hang out with friends not to have fun
with them, but so that they can post about it on
Snapchat.
This is not to say that all technology is
negative. technology used properly in
moderation is beneficial. People can use
technology to connect with people thousands of
miles away and to form new relationships with
people. Scientists use technology to find cures
for diseases and historians use it to analyze the
past. Technology can be used to expand
knowledge; never before in history has
information been so readily available and
accessible. Technology is a wonderful things
that can be very helpful, it only become a
problem when people misuse it.
Studies show that some teens spend up to
9 hours a day on the internet (Wallace). That
leaves only 15 hours a day for these teenagers to
study, socialize and do other things that are
essential to life, such as eating and sleeping.
People kill themselves slowly saying “YOLO”
because they fail miserably in time
management. Instead of growing and
flourishing, they limit ourselves to the small
metal jail cells of their phones and computers.
It is undeniable that this era is centered around
the digital world. Almost every aspect of
people's’ life is based on it. However this does
not mean that steps can’t be taken to limit time
mindlessly wasting on the internet. Everyone
should be careful how they spend their time
and make sure it is spend on the important
things.