As the global pandemic has hit the world, most of the countries including Pakistan, governments implemented complete lockdown to stop the spreading of the deadly virus. All the activities have stopped across the country, confining people to their houses. Though it has given everyone a relief from their busy routine and promoted family hours, yet the screen time and social media usage have increased tremendously. Since the lockdown has started, I have been staying at home too just like every other person in the country and being a teacher most of my time is spent using the internet, taking classes, assigning tasks, helping and teaching students online (totally relying on the internet for staying connected to my work and for leisure time too). Then one day the internet stopped working and I tried everything in the book to fix it but it went in vain. Those few days I had to spend without the internet, which made me so frustrated and realized how badly I was dependent on the internet.
Confined in the houses all we can say is “What would we have done without the internet”. The gap of social interaction and working routine has been filled by social media and the internet which has increased screen time. Sitting in our houses the only source of getting connected to the rest of the world and entertainment is the internet and social media.
The lockdown has taken a toll on mental health, making people anxious and frightened, not being able to go outside and forced to spend time at home, everyone is taking solace in social media to keep themselves engaged. Furthermore, back-offices and desk job working class is trying their best to provide their services and complete assignments and projects online to meet their targets and deadlines. Professionals of every field i.e. sales, business, technology, marketing, and other sectors are using modern technology and different social media application to run their routine work from homes. Almost all of the educational institutes are offering online classes or recorded video lesson is being uploaded for students to stay connected to their studies, which has forced a large community of people to get connected to social media.
Now being dependent on social media and the internet has paralyzed other healthy activities. Although to some extent it is a need of time, yet it should not be the only go-to thing for entertainment. This lockdown could have been a great time to spend with family and get a list of things done which we always wanted to do and couldn’t get time for. I’m not very new to writing blogs and talking about diverse topics, yet this lockdown has given me ample time to spare for writing blogs. If we are not able to go outside, we must tend to the responsibilities that we have inside our homes.
Instead of watching movies and using social media, we must practice social detox, which would be very beneficial for our health, both physical and mental. The time spared on social media is eating away at face to face time, which is social displacement. There’s no denying that social media has become a must in our lives. Apps like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram help us stay connected to the rest of the world. Yet you’ll find yourself spending hours on end scrolling through various feeds, which can leave you feeling anxious, drained and dissatisfied. We all do feel anxious and bored out of scrolling all the time, as we have bundles of energies within which need to be utilized constructively. Hence we are in a need of social detox and pretend to be in a time when social media has no influence in our lives.
Now the question arises, how do you know you’re in a need of social detox and how social detox is helpful? You can reflect on your habits and evaluate how much time do you spend scrolling on social media, and how much of that time are you using to achieve something. You may ask yourself or reflect on how social media makes you feel and how it impacts your life? Most of you would find out that all we do on social media is to watch movies, spend time on Netflix or keep scrolling which is affecting our mental health. There’s nothing wrong with using social media but the important thing is to use it on purpose.
In the end, whatever you do, social media and the internet must not create social displacement. The purpose of social media was to get connected to the rest of the world and not to create distances with the people who we love the most. Limit your time on social media and involve yourself in healthy activities. You may start with reading, self-care, plantation and so on. There are a lot of things that you can do once you get your head straight for the social detox.
Confined in the houses all we can say is “What would we have done without the internet”. The gap of social interaction and working routine has been filled by social media and the internet which has increased screen time. Sitting in our houses the only source of getting connected to the rest of the world and entertainment is the internet and social media.
The lockdown has taken a toll on mental health, making people anxious and frightened, not being able to go outside and forced to spend time at home, everyone is taking solace in social media to keep themselves engaged. Furthermore, back-offices and desk job working class is trying their best to provide their services and complete assignments and projects online to meet their targets and deadlines. Professionals of every field i.e. sales, business, technology, marketing, and other sectors are using modern technology and different social media application to run their routine work from homes. Almost all of the educational institutes are offering online classes or recorded video lesson is being uploaded for students to stay connected to their studies, which has forced a large community of people to get connected to social media.
Now being dependent on social media and the internet has paralyzed other healthy activities. Although to some extent it is a need of time, yet it should not be the only go-to thing for entertainment. This lockdown could have been a great time to spend with family and get a list of things done which we always wanted to do and couldn’t get time for. I’m not very new to writing blogs and talking about diverse topics, yet this lockdown has given me ample time to spare for writing blogs. If we are not able to go outside, we must tend to the responsibilities that we have inside our homes.
Instead of watching movies and using social media, we must practice social detox, which would be very beneficial for our health, both physical and mental. The time spared on social media is eating away at face to face time, which is social displacement. There’s no denying that social media has become a must in our lives. Apps like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram help us stay connected to the rest of the world. Yet you’ll find yourself spending hours on end scrolling through various feeds, which can leave you feeling anxious, drained and dissatisfied. We all do feel anxious and bored out of scrolling all the time, as we have bundles of energies within which need to be utilized constructively. Hence we are in a need of social detox and pretend to be in a time when social media has no influence in our lives.
Now the question arises, how do you know you’re in a need of social detox and how social detox is helpful? You can reflect on your habits and evaluate how much time do you spend scrolling on social media, and how much of that time are you using to achieve something. You may ask yourself or reflect on how social media makes you feel and how it impacts your life? Most of you would find out that all we do on social media is to watch movies, spend time on Netflix or keep scrolling which is affecting our mental health. There’s nothing wrong with using social media but the important thing is to use it on purpose.
In the end, whatever you do, social media and the internet must not create social displacement. The purpose of social media was to get connected to the rest of the world and not to create distances with the people who we love the most. Limit your time on social media and involve yourself in healthy activities. You may start with reading, self-care, plantation and so on. There are a lot of things that you can do once you get your head straight for the social detox.
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