The Trade-off That Is Social Media: A Guest Post

 * This article was written by my oldest daughter, Jasmine, as a school assignment. In light of last week's post, I thought it would be good content to share here. It is important to note, that she not only produced a very well researched and well written piece, she also walks out her talk. I don't know very many 17 year olds who delete their social media accounts of their own accord, but she is one of them. Her article, but even more her practical walking out of it, are a challenge to her mother. 

Used by permission.

--also by Jasmine

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Social media has become a normal part of our everyday lives as Americans. It is defined by Oxford Languages as "websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking." It has allowed us to remain connected with friends, family, and/or random acquaintances, whether they are overseas, five blocks away, or in the next room.

It would be useless for me to argue that social media doesn't bring benefits. It does, by allowing us to share information efficiently, keep abreast of current events, and (let's be honest) find entertainment whenever we so desire. I will argue, however, that the drawbacks of social media should cause its users to proceed with intention, realizing that every minute spent on social media does involve a trade off.

According to statistics.com, last year the average American spent just over two hours per day using social media. Assuming a healthy eight hours of rest each night, and the leftover time (sixteen hours) as waking hours, that means one eighth of the average American's day is spent on social media. This means that (again, assuming a sixteen hour day), one out of every eight days is used up entirely with social media. This comes out to just over forty-five days each year, which is roughly a month and a half. In the larger scheme of things, the statistic reads this way: "The average American devoted one out of every eight years (in terms of waking hours) exclusively to the use of social media."

Although the amount of time spent on social media is, in itself, enough to cause at least mild concern, the effects of this obsessive usage on the brain are far more noteworthy. Cal Newport, author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism, has done extensive research on the subject. In Deep Work, he describes the way social media destroys our ability to do just that.

By fragmenting our attention into tiny bits and pieces with notifications and constant distraction, our phones have effectively robbed us of the capabilities required to do deep, meaningful work. Constantly breaking up your attention to "quickly check the phone" all throughout the day, can permanently reduce your ability to concentrate, according to Newport. This is problematic, considering that concentration is precisely what is needed to perform any kind of meaningful work. By remaining at the beck and call of your phone's every ding, you are trading your ability to concentrate deeply for the privilege of keeping up with the outside world. Is this actually worth your while?

The evidence would tend to suggest that it certainly is not. Researchers have actually found a correlation between media usage and depression levels. One study found that those who spent a greater amount of time using social media daily, experienced more depression and loneliness than those who spent a small portion of their time.(penntoday.upenn.edu) I didn't make that up. Americans are devoting, on average, two hours per day to the possible erosion of their emotional well-being.

However, the most important area to pay attention to is the effects of social media on our personal growth. One of the most obvious downsides of social media, in relation to us meeting our personal goals, is simply the easy distraction it provides. For many, social media becomes an escape from the realities, problems, and struggles of real life. It is a place to run and hide and, conveniently, we don't have to run far, since our phones are probably in our hands already. All we have to do is make a few taps on the screen, and we can slip peacefully away down the river of escape.

This is only one type of distraction, though. The other (and arguably most common) form of distraction we encounter happens when we are pursuing our goals.

Even when we have made a conscious decision to plow ahead with life, rather than fleeing reality through an app, we are prone to distraction from our phones through notifications, a need to check the news, or a sudden realization that we forgot to like our friend's last post. This type of distraction results in a half-in, half-out approach to life, and seriously hurts the quality and efficiency of our real-world interactions. Living in state of distraction, either through fleeing reality, or through multitasking, makes it more difficult for us to pursue dreams, enjoy friends and hobbies, and meet goals.

This carries over into our spiritual lives, too. A half-in, half-out approach to knowing God and spending time with Him doesn't work. Hearing the voice of God and learning to know Him requires our full attention, and our phones are keeping us from that.

Social media gets in the way of our personal growth, not only because it is distracting, but also because it is time consuming. We have been given exactly twenty-four hours in every day, and each minute that is spent on social media is a minute which cannot be spent on something else. If you are one of the many who cannot seem to find enough time in a day to pursue your dreams and goals, maybe social media is the culprit that keeps sneaking off with it. If that is the case, are you willing to continue to sacrifice those dreams and goals on the altar of social media?

There is a lot of conflicting information about social media use on the internet. The effects of social media do vary from person to person, and I am speaking in very generalized terms for that reason. For some people, there are legitimate benefits to be gained from the use of social media: support, new ideas, and a healthy community, for example. For them, these benefits outweigh the cost of time and attention that come with social media usage.

Personally, I find that as I spend more time in the real world and less time on my phone, I have less anxiety, I am more productive, and I actually feel better connected to friends and family because the encounters I do have with them happen face to face. In most cases, the benefits of social media in my own life are not great enough to justify the costs.

Because the costs and benefits of social media vary from person to person, it is necessary to evaluate the way you personally are using it, and whether or not the benefits outweigh the costs for you.

Andrew Sullivan, whose health was suffering due to fifteen crazy years of daily updating, posting, and reposting on his political blog, "The Dish", finally took a good look at his own media life. He later wrote the following: "I began to realize, as my health and happiness deteriorated, that this was not a both-and kind of situation. It was either-or. Every hour I spent online was not spent in the physical world. Every minute I was engrossed in a virtual interaction, I was not involved in a human encounter. Every second absorbed in some trivia was a second less for any form of reflection, or calm, or spirituality."

It took him fifteen years to realize that, unbeknownst to him, technology was stealing his sanity. It's up to you to make sure it doesn't take yours.