My job as a writer allows me many privileges (The most prevalent being that I set my own hours of work). If I want to write at 3am, then so be it. The problem I seem to run into is that I have become obsessed with laziness. Instead of brainstorming about potential story ideas, I plop myself down on the couch and watch hours of mindless television “entertainment”. And when I’m not doing that, I hazily surf the net-although I have the laptop in the living room now so I can perform both tasks simultaneously. I tend to complain that I never have enough time to write, but yet, in reality, I have plentiful amounts. Setting your own schedule may seem like a godsend, but it can be detrimental to one’s overall work ethic. I undermine my freedom with complete and utter defiance.
I believe the greatest time waster of all is Facebook. Oh sure, it’s great to catch up with old friends and such, but it’s a great detractor of my time. It’s funny, I will go on it and check out anything that has potentially changed (someone has written on my wall, I’ve been tagged in a photo, etc.). After the ten seconds it takes to perform this task, I find myself checking out the newsfeed. Since I haven’t been on it in about 8 or 9 hours (because of sleep), I feel lost not knowing the needless information of others. So I scroll down and spy on the useless drivel that has no bearing on my life. After completing this task, I become bored with Zuckerberg’s wonder site, and leave the page.
You know, the internet is such a vast portal of information, but yet I am constantly at a loss as to what to look up. I have about ten sites I search on a daily basis, but upon completion of that, I tend to sit there and wonder, ‘What can I search for now’? So, in an act of desperation, I head back to Facebook because something has bound to have changed in the last ten minutes. Someone has broken up, someone has changed their status, and someone probably needs my help with cows in Farmville. My constant return to Facebook is unwarranted, but yet I do it numerous times a day.
What does this say about me? Am I obsessed? Am I living precariously through the lives of others? Am I just a nosy person by nature (or has social media transformed me)? Is my life so mundane that I feel the need to spy on people on my friends list? This activity does not benefit me in any way, but yet it has become an unfortunate ritual that has affected my work ethic.
I don’t blame the internet, but rather I blame myself for my shortcomings as a functioning human being who attempts to coexist with the “importance” of social media on a day-to-day basis.
Social media has become ubiquitous in our society, which makes it almost impossible to ignore. However, in my opinion, the verdict is still out as to whether or not this isolating technology (talk about irony) is a true positive for a society currently in a transitional stage of identity. Though there may be many benefits surrounding it, it does have the potential to become a dangerous tool.
I will more than likely never sever my relationship with Facebook, but I understand that this could lead to an addiction of massive proportions if I don’t nip it in the butt immediately. And what happens if I do delete my Facebook account? Well, I can always switch sites and check out my Twitter and MySpace.
