Disconnect.

Are you always glued to your phone? Are you one of those people who snapchat/instagram, whenever they get ready or go out?
Do you feel the urge to tweet your thoughts?
Are you one of those who posts their zillion pictures on Facebook on every special occasion?

If yes, do read this post.

We wake up, get ready for work/studies, curse our jobs/homework (well most of us do), hate the traffic on our way home, go out for a little while and come back again to sleep. That excitement for Fridays, that hatred for Mondays. Well, we do get weekends to live. To party hard on a Saturday night, to sleep for ten hours on Sunday.
Doesn’t it describe most of our lives?
So what we need the most is a DISTRACTION.
That distraction is SOCIAL MEDIA.

Some of us post a part of their life, some goes overboard and post everything.

We post, and we wait.

Wait for the likes. For the comments. From the people we may or may not know.

Now let’s do some dissection. Are we addicted to social media? How? Why? What are the signs? Can we do something about it?

An addiction is something when you can’t stop yourself from doing it, even when you badly want to.

How often do you go on *alert mode* when a message notification pops up?
If it’s happening quite often, darling you’re a social media addict. Unfortunately, so am I.

I think the reason behind my addiction is, I can’t take one second of boredom. So everytime, I need a break, I check my twitter.
Also, I won’t deny the fact that social media can also make you happy. All those praises, all those conversations. I love connecting with people. It’s like an extension of my social group.

Also, CURIOSITY is in the human nature. We want to know What’s happening in others life. Not just the celebrities, also regular people. We follow them, sometimes we get INSPIRED (oh look what they were wearing, I need that in my wardrobe kinds), and sometimes we TROLL (oh look what they are wearing, so weird man!). We can’t help it. We just can’t. This is where this addiction begins.

No privacy because Social Networking.

We put out best version online. Every one wants to be liked and appreciated. Again, human nature. We love when we get likes, when we get followers. It’s like we are in the limelight.

Social media satisfies our innate desire to be heard. To feel important. To feel significant.
But if not careful, it has the full capacity to make you anxious. Make you more vulnerable.

As Shakespeare has said, “Stars, hide your fires. .
Let not light see my black and deep desires.” we want to be heard. This desire can take a dark turn. This can make you an addict. What once started as a classic ‘time-pass‘ becomes a major part of life. What started as a saviour from boredom, makes you it’s slave later, prompting you to check your phone even when you have company.

Also, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) continues to ruin our lives.

We are often so immersed in our ‘online life’, that we forget to draw a line between the online & offline world.
This is where the trouble begins.

Putting up a part of your life on social media is okay. Obsessing over likes is not. Fear of being invalidated is supreme. We start seeking for others approval. Why? Like seriously, why??? Will someone sitting miles across you, who hasn’t even met you, gets to have a say in your life? NO.

What you chose to post is your choice. So, what they choose to say, is theirs. You’re happy with their likes, so be fine with their dislikes too. These things shouldn’t matter. And if you think, they are affecting you. . Take a break.

DISCONNECT.

THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME.

You have one life, and you are loved.
Don’t obsess over something like what that stranger on Twitter posted about you. Have you ever walked in a crowd, and thought what that person walking behind you is thinking about you? No, right? Then why should those strangers matter? Or why should anyone get to have a say in your life?

Life is all about creating memories. Pictures are for savoring those moments. Taking pictures to show them off later to people you don’t care about, isn’t what I’ll say savoring a moment.

So take a break. And literally and figuratively, get a life.

Here’s my challenge for you –
Go off your favorite social media for 1 week. Be it whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, snapchat or instagram.
Post it here, then and now. Trust me, you’ll find a change. You might not like it at first, but you’ll be fine. Take it from Miss connectivity (that would be me).
It ain’t gonna be easy, but it will be worth it. Disconnect with social media to connect with yourself again.
Live a life that matters, and you won’t have to bother about the satisfaction from likes ever again.
‘Likes’ doesn’t matter, ‘Life’ does.