24 Hour Media  Social Media & Mobile Devices Part 2

Since my last post I have taken a further look into social media and how it affects our lives in different ways. We all use them and enjoy what they can bring into our lives, reuniting us with old friends, instantly bringing us the latest headlines as they happen and for me the fantastic pictures posted on Google+.

My problem with all social media is when it seems to be taking over the life of some people. Having going to a concert at the end of December and standing on the balcony, I saw maybe 40% of the people on the lower level on their smart phone with Facebook apps running. After paying £40 a ticket why would you want to stand there using Facebook? Well that is only my thought.

Now I move on to something that has affected me in the past and see so many other going down the same route. I have touched on this subject slightly before on a post but feel the need to return to just throw in a few more of my own experiences. This is the subject of 24 hour media, people allowing Facebook, Twitter etc., to take over their lives to the degree that it has to be on in the bedroom or even sitting up all night and only getting a couple of hours of sleep a night. It also gets to a stage where when the laptop, smart phone, tablet or whatever device you use overnight can wake you through the night but the alarm will not. The brain seem to switch to a mode where the notification sound wake you but normal back ground noises have no effect. I find this very worrying, I did go through a stage long before Facebook when I would sit up until 3 in the morning every day and then up at 6 to go to work. This had a real effect on my life. Not just the lack of sleep but your personality changes. The worse thing that happened to me was a serious case of eye strain and was advised by the optician to stop using my pc as it was affecting me at work. At this time I was driving 12 hours a day. I stopped using my computer and only limited myself to a few hours a week. How much this damaged my eyes I will never be sure but I now wear glasses to stop eye strain in my left eye and only need to wear them for computer work.

So to sum up this brief post, I have no problem with 24 hour use of social media but warn against the harm it could cause mentally, physically and even encroach in to other aspects of your life.

ColinH