Yeah. Society is distracted. That's not even a controversial take anymore and everyone knows it. We're all staring at our phones while life happens around us. The question isn't whether social media is a distraction. It's why people are so willing to let it be one.
Here's my theory. We THINK real life is hard, the job is stressful,finances are a mess, health isn't what it used to be, and relationships take work. Looking at any of that too closely feels overwhelming. So people don't deal with it.
They doom scroll instead.
Social media gives them a hit of something. Maybe it is dopamine or whatever. Its a little ping of bullshit validation every time someone likes a post or replies to a comment. It's not real connection but it feels like something. That something is easier than sitting with the uncomfortable reality that your life needs work they don't want to do.
It's not even conscious most of the time. People pick up the phone without thinking and thirty minutes of their life disappears. Then they put it down feeling worse than before but do the same damn thing an a few minutes later.
The algorithm doesn't give a fuck about a person's goals. It wants your attention and it's really good at getting it. Smarter people than you or me designed it that way.
So what's important gets pushed aside. Health., relationships, and finances. All the stuff that actually matters but doesn't come with notifications gets shit canned for the hit. That stuff requires you to be present and uncomfortable. Social media lets you be absent and numb. Easy choice in the moment and a terrible one over time.
I used to have this problem when I was going through some mental health challenges, the phone became a crutch. It was easier to scroll than to feel. It was easier to numb out everything than to deal with what was actually going on. So, I get why people do it becuase I've been there.
But I climbed out of that hole sometime ago which is why you don't see me around on the old socials much anymore. I'm not completely immune now but way better than I was. I now see people glued to their screens and I recognize it. It is not connection, it's avoidance. Life is short and there's work to do. The scroll doesn't move me forward. It just kills time until one runs out of it.
What about you? Do you catch yourself scrolling when you should be doing something else? What are you avoiding if you do scroll endlessly?
Thanks for reading,
Joe
Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using MS Paint and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.
Thankfully the media apps have far less sway on me these days. I have a challenge with looking at too many memes some nights but for the most part I don’t have the silly shit that others do when it comes to that.
I think for me one of the far more enjoyable things is spending time, actual time with my son. I am never on my phone fucking around when he’s around because it’s just dumb. Parents need to be there with the kids not just in the physical space but completely disconnected mentally. It’s a real shame that millions of people are addicted to the dopamine slot machine that is the phone.
I agree. I am just glad smartphones weren't a thing when my kids were real young. That way I wasn't tempted with that distraction. It was hard enough on them with me being a work-aholic.
It is so good you put the darn phone away for your kid. I see alot of parents these days don;t and some even use them for digital babysitters.
It is the validation, in my opinion, but not only. It's easier to paint a fake picture of yourself online, to collect those useless and worthless likes.
I don't have this problem as the only social media platform I'm checking regularly is X, due to trading. I need the news and also follow a few analysts and traders, but I'm not interested in so called lifestyle content where people show off. But even so, I can live without checking it.
People should define what is value for them and how they could make their life better, instead of hunting useless likes.
The only one I use regularly, besides Hive, is LI and it is for business only. I have FB and Insta, but rarely post on those they are to stay in tune with old friends and relatives. However, it is becoming hard to do so with all the ads. Bluesky is something new I am trying out for possible business use, but it is so filled with political hate talk that I am about to delete it as I see no future for it in that sense.
So yeah, other than LI for my biz use, I can do without the rest to as I could care less about likes and votes. I want connections.
at the moment I am using some of the social media to try to learn about farming, and see how the other farmer method that they share online.
I immidietely swipe if ther's any flexign post tht pop up into my feed, as I know how fake that can be, and how it can negatively impacting my self.
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Yeah, I try to use them to use LI for business, FB and Insta for old friends and fmaily, and Bluesky I am testing.
Good for you on swiping past the BS.
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@ekavieka(4/5) tipped @coinjoe
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