Melissa Hoyer asks: is this normal or am I social media addict?

PUT down the device and enjoy the moment instead of posting about it. For some of us that’s so much easier said than done.

Going for gold in the social media Olympics.

SOMETIMES I feel like a total hypocrite. One minute I say yes, we all need to step away from our devices, to take time out, to have a digital detox and to be “in the moment”.

But do I actually practice what I preach? That answer is more often than not, a big, fat no.

Sure, I may step away for a few hours (okay, minutes) ... but honestly I am never, ever far from at least one of my devices.

I genuinely love tweeting, (Insta)gram-ing; Facebook-ing and indulging in some fairly minimal Snapchat action.

I justify it by saying it’s part of my job. Which it kind of is. My social media output is very much rolled into my working role.

I really want to be that person who, once they step away from the screen, wants to live life and not document every bloody moment of it.

But there are times where I know I have been sucked into that very vortex.

Maybe I think it’s expectation; a validation of me as a person, which is even more of a concern. But it worries me that I can feel anxious if I haven’t looked at my social media and kept it updated. Crazy? I just don’t know.

If I don’t do it for a day or two — which is rare (like, it actually doesn’t happen) I feel guilty and like I’m not ‘doing my job’.

God, even home a few days with a virus last week and I haven’t turned my devices off, instead having them near me and in ‘working’ mode the entire time. I even feel guilty that I’ve been sick and I definitely know I am not the first person to say that.

When I look at my phone and check out the times emails are coming and my replies, the times are at stupidly late and/or early.

That happens because who has time to spend an entire day in the office shuffling through emails when we’ve got ‘real’ work to do? Email checking is done when you’re watching TV at home or having dinner and should be engaging in conversation isn’t it?

Is this what addiction to social media is?

Or is what I’m saying just part and parcel of our world, our modern lives, and in some cases, our careers?

Recently travel blogger Sebastiaan Rijntjes questioned if he was actually ‘taking in his surrounds’ when he travels, because he was so busy uploading, downloading, writing and getting stuff ‘out there’ for his readers to enjoy.

I could definitely relate to that as when you’re on the road there is a constant niggling that you need to ‘prove’ you are actually working. So snap, you search to eventually find that elusive pic. That story. That justification that yes, I really am working. But boy, it becomes relentless. But at the same time, satisfying.

There is a great quote: ‘the best moments of my life don’t make it onto social media’ and of late, that has really resonated with me.

Sure I really enjoy putting up stuff; I post because that’s what I do and that’s one thing I love about my job, but each time I post something now, I do stand back for a minute and think ‘is this worthwhile?’

My current social squad goal is to be much more thoughtful about what to post, but without losing the pure fun element of it all.

There is a whole world out there beyond our tiny screens and sore thumb joints.

I know I’m not the only one who is thinking about this — just look around the bus, train, streets, bars, cafes. We are all glued, constantly glancing at our device when we COULD be chilling and taking in ‘the moment’.

We are all so used to being instantly contactable, being instantly updated on the latest news — whether it is serious news or someone’s personal news they’ve posted on Facebook — that how to interact properly and comfortably on a human level is becoming secondary.

One saving grace about myself, and this is totally honest one, is I’m not a trawler of social media. I don’t sit in front of Facebook pages and trawl through everyone’s personal lives — so at least I can give myself a pat on the back for that.

It kind of fills me with satisfaction to say I had no idea ‘blah’ has married or has a new haircut — because it was on Facebook. I/we can’t possibly be on top of everything. We can’t know everything. We have jobs to do. People to see. Things to do.

I reckon we just need to use the same ‘time management’ thinking we all heard of and read about years ago: prioritise and pause before we post.

And keep a little of your personal life hidden from any kind of platform.

Let’s face it, there will never be any gold to be won at the social media Olympics.