I would like to believe that I have a relatively healthy relationship with technology, especially in comparison to people around my age. According to Comparitech, the average American spends a little more than seven hours looking at a screen everyday. I can confidently say that I average at around four hours of screen time a day on my phone. This is mostly due to the fact that I am simply too busy to sit on my phone for long periods of time, on top of the fact that I simply do not like being on my phone. There is not much on my phone that I look at in terms of entertainment; I only use two social medias and do not watch videos or shows during my spare time. I mostly use my phone as a form of communication, whether it is for emails or if someone from school, work or a club needs my assistance. Since I cannot carry my computer everywhere, my phone makes it easy to access my emails and do what is necessary for work or school.
Besides communication for school and work, I will use my phone for social media. However, I typically only go on social media at the very end of the day for the most part. Social media is not my favorite thing, and it never was. I got into social media during my middle school years. I only got it because I felt left out. With Instagram being new at the time, all my friends seemed to obsess over it. Whenever my friends and I would hang out, it would seem like they were only on their phones for Instagram and there was almost no talking. I hated it. So, in turn, I begged my parents to let me get an Instagram account. Not necessarily because I genuinely wanted it, but because I felt left out. That was my initial downfall with social media- the feeling of fomo.
I never ended up using Instagram too much; I did not like people knowing where I was, who I was with or what I was doing. I have the same mindset today. On top of that, I did not like seeing what other people were doing. Part of it was because I did not care what the people who I was not close with were doing. It was also because I would feel left out when I saw the people I know doing things I was not. It is no surprise that social media leads users to compare themselves to one another. I disliked comparing myself greatly. Seeing posts that led me to compare or led me to feel left out just did not feel right. With that, I started using social media less and less because I did not see any fun in it. Nevertheless, I did like to see my close friends’ pictures, especially now that many of us live in different states. That led me to get Snapchat, my second and last social media account. I enjoyed and still enjoy being able to see the faces of my friends that I have not seen in a while. Snapchat feels a little more personal than a text from across the country. On top of that, there is a little more privacy granted with private stories. I do not mind Snapchat as much as I do Instagram. Regardless, I have found that for years I have been telling myself that I would delete my social medias, and that I do not need them. However, even after years, I still have yet to bring myself to delete my accounts. I am sure it is because I have just grown used to having them, but I am not pleased with this.
In all, my problem with technology is social media. Social media is a paradox- it is meant to unite and connect people, but all I see is hatred, oversharing and misinformation. I know in recent years, many have turned to social media as a form of activism. I do not condemn it necessarily. I think it is great to send messages to a large audience with a click of a button. It is powerful. However, I do not trust it. Most, if not all the time, I have no idea where information is coming from. All I know is that I have seen that same political post about a hundred times in a row. It definitely grabs my attention, but I cannot say that I trust what I am reading or believing it. Nevertheless, all the posts bring me to do my own research and I end up enlightening myself on a new topic. There is a downfall to this though. It is no surprise that there are an infinite amount of grievances people have in this world that they would love resolved. However, with all these issues coming to surface on social media, many people feel the responsibility to take on all these issues, ultimately leading them to burnout.
My family and most of my friends share similar thoughts to me when it comes to technology and social media. A number of my friends do not have social media, or have it but have not used the app in months or years. Perhaps that is why I think the way I do. My parents raised me away from mobile phones and social media. It felt like I was always late to the game with technology. I would not have it any other way though. As I grow older, I constantly fear what my digital footprint looks like. I am a private person, I do not like the idea of my information getting out. Fortunately, upon looking up my name on Google, the only thing to come up is my LinkedIn, which is not the worst thing to come up. I am always refreshing my social media accounts, whether that include removing posts and comments, unfollowing or blocking people I do not know or want to follow me. I try my very best to present the best version of myself on the internet because you truly never know who is watching. I will get notifications from LinkedIn saying people I have never heard of in my life are looking at my LinkedIn account. It is weird to me and I simply do not like it. Nevertheless, I know the footprint I have left is not bad by any means. I have been cautious with my relationship with the Internet and always will be. As I said, you never know who is watching.
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