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Blogs by Barbara Forte Abate
The Question of Social Media 2/19/2011 5:48:05 PM
Good? Bad? Or simply dangerous? It just keeps getting better and some of us are hopelessly hooked. It's not only incredible, but highly addictive, this ever-changing buffet of social media dishes ready and waiting for us to come along and select our favorites.
Not the least appealing element is that it's all there, spread out like trays of sparkly candy 24/7. Ready and willing whenever we have a few moments to quench that immediate urge to drop a tweet, have a quickie sprint through Facebook, surf potential contacts on Linkedin, read our favorite blogs, visit interesting websites, watch a few videos on Youtube...
It's all so fabulous until you glance at the clock way down in the far corner of your computer screen and realize that two and a half hours have flown past never to return. That coveted block of time you've beg, borrowed, or stole to write, create, and accomplish that which dwells closest to your heart.
True, sometimes a mind needs a lazy afternoon to unwind by surfing the internet, combing for obscure treasures on Ebay, comparison shopping on Amazon, or even just one more peek into your email to see if something of utmost importance has just sailed in across the wire to change your life for eternity. However, the occasional spin becomes something of a problem when it takes over as the accustomed routine of the day.
We click away from our work-in-progress for just a moment, and we don't return for ten minutes. Once back to the task at hand we stay just long enough to hit a glitch and we're off again, this time for a half hour. It's a lethal combination that takes procrastination to the next level -- that being the plateau of outright avoidance.
What has always seemed like a friendly set of social icons has become a threatening force standing between us and realized accomplishment. We coax ourselves into believing we are networking, learning, keeping in touch -- all those things we deem essential for our work, health, and the pursuit of happiness. And certainly there is a strong element of truth living within this observation. But it's when we allow our online social activities to become the all-encompassing entity in our lives that this pretty new friend starts to resemble a rather greedy foe.
I've come to the conclusion that maybe I need to go cold-turkey. Keep to an addicts schedule until I can once again trust myself to return to the party. Well, maybe not cold turkey, but more of a slow steady weaning. It just may be the only possible way for us to remain friends.
