Well, snaps for me! I did a fantastic job remembering to make a point of engaging in social media every day.
However, as someone with somewhat of a “unique” attention span- keeping track of my attention felt similar to a chore because I kept forgetting to do it.
I’m someone who is part workaholic-part ADD, so I’ve grown a bit neurotic about “attention maintenance.” Which made this exercise was (more or less) right up my ally.
But basically, a few things I found to be worth noting were as follows:
- I am a slave to hyperlinks. If someone posts a link, I click it. If some girl tagged in an Instagram photo is wearing a shirt I like, I go to her account. I find her Pinterest. I find her blog. The next thing I know I’m looking at her Dentist’s trip to the caribbean in May of 2012 and I have developed an opinion about each one of her immediate family members.
- In terms of physical sensation while engaged with social media, I was for the most part, relaxed. UNTIL, I came across a person on my feed who has some unexplainable power over me, in which case my body would tense up and twitch a little. But this wouldn’t last long. Out of site of out mind rings true here; pun intended.
- Such affliction would continue while scrolling in between real-life activities where I should be mentally present. I suppose I’ve always thought of social media as a mindless activity, so when I’m unable to take in such information at my own leisure, I cross my legs and lean forward, bite my nails, all in an effort to make sure I get every last bit of everyone else in the universe’s opinion on nothing.
- DURING THE DEBATE: I felt a combination of relief and fear in seeing the amount of angry, opinionated responses posted on social media. (Also a bit of envy that I don’t have the guts to post something so one-sided.)
- Scrolling through blogs and the like before I fall asleep takes my mind to a weird-ass place. It implores an elaborate plan for an app, blog, youtube channel, pyramid scheme, (etc.) requiring immediate action, thus a sleepless night.
Which is what I mean when I say the internet an ADD Paradise. It provokes an ongoing internal dialogue and a whole lot of urgency.
IN SUMMARY, the internet is a brilliant tool- as much as it is a brilliant distraction. And through it, distraction is that much more quick and accessible, particularly for those of us prone to falling victim to such access. Not to stray too far from the main point here, but social media is a platform of ongoing madness. Part of me thinks it’s great people have so much freaking control over their identity, but another part of me finds it nerve-racking and narcissistic and a recipe for disaster and another thing distracting me from finishing my homework.
