A blog a day (#19)

ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA

"Can you please stop staring at your phone now. It is already 10 pm. I have read somewhere that one shouldn't look at devices and displays at least three hours before one's bedtime." 

"How long will you continue to sip coffee? Are you drinking coffee or drinking all the messages on your phone?"

"How many updates will you keep looking at on Twitter or Bitter or something like that? Isn't it enough if you see that once in a day?"

"Are you still on Facebook? Your face will resemble a book if you continue to check Facebook. Come on stop that and help me here. Please throw the vegetable waste in the small dustbin. The small one, not the big one! Didn't you listen? The big one is for dry waste and the small one is for wet waste. You are wasting your time, aren't you?"

"How many Whatsup (yes, many people call it like this only) messages do you get? You are looking at your phone and laughing the whole day. Not talking to me, only talking to your phone! Remember we are married and you are my spouse."

"Have you finished your vegetable booking on big basket? Oh! This time you are going to book on Spot Seva, is it? Have you done that? No. I knew that. When will you finish that job? I have to keep reminding you ten times, then only you will take your eyes off your phone, is it?"

Of course, not all the dialogues are true in my home. Well, I got hooked onto Facebook about 10 years ago and for a few years I was posting something every day till I got bored and then stopped completely. Nowadays, I browse the site and copy paste some jokes on Whatsapp groups. Whatsapp is the current addiction and I have a few groups in which I am a member. The total number of messages across all groups and individuals sometimes exceeds 100. I may not look at all videos, but all text messages I do read and that takes a substantial part of my day.

Inspite of all the evils that my wife (or your wife, dear reader) may have pointed out, you will agree with me that it has brought your long lost friend nearer and your other friends closer - even if they are not in the same geographical location as you. Anyway, a few similar comments from my wife died down substantially once she started getting addicted to Whatsapp. Nowadays she is part of a few groups and gets so many messages from her friends, old classmates, and office colleagues that she doesn't remember to berate me for the time I "waste" on social media. 

Image source: Internet

Most technology solutions offer convenience with some trade offs. Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, and other such social media platforms offer a lot of information, interactions, and posts by some smart and intelligent people. But reading those takes away your time. 

If you have the time, the social media platforms have the content. Browse at your own risk.