The Covid-19 Pandemic has made all of us aware of what is social distancing. In a couple of months’ time each one of us are, at least 6 feet away from our family members, our BFFs, that 2am friend and name whoever you want. But social distancing from social media? Is it even possible? FOMO is real so is our love for TikTok and whoever can even remember a life before Instagram or Facebook!
Then one fine morning it struck us, real hard! When the Indian government banned 57, yes you heard it right, not 10, not 20 but 57 mobile applications in India! And, suddenly our virtual worlds came crashing down. First of all, the physical distancing and then that. It is a well-known fact that ever since lockdown social media has seen a rapid growth of virtual presence. According to a report published by the Financial Express the average time spent by users on Facebook was 41.4 minutes in comparison to 66.9 minutes during lockdown ever since March 29th. The average time being spent on TikTok went up from 39.5 minutes to 56.9 minutes, and on Instagram, from 21.8 minutes to 35.4 minutes. Let us all agree that our virtual media presence increased as a compensation to the physical distancing we suddenly faced.
Ever since the first phase of lockdown social media has been instrumental in keeping our contacts alive. A simple cake baking video would make us want to try it at home. Physical exercises became popular only because of the urge to upload it online. Comments and likes made lockdown easier to handle. But have we ever given it a thought, what if there was no social media at all to ease our lockdown days? Seems impossible and crazy? Well, let us try imagining something like this. Let us see if we can survive at all without social media. Although many of us would agree that this is the ‘new normal.’ However, we should at least try to think of an alternative that will be handy if tomorrow the virtual world vanishes!
So, here are few tips that you can implement to see if you still can survive if ever there is a virtual media pandemic:
- Schedule your Mobile/Laptop time– Remember, when you would put an alarm for waking up so that you do not miss your college bus, or you are right on time or class? Well we all were part of a schedule or a routine that made our life easier. So, try making a similar schedule for your presence on the virtual world, making sure that you turn off your apps once your time for the day lapses.
Find a new hobby– We agree that during lockdown many of us tried new activities inspired by social media posts by our friends, family members or any random influencer that you may follow. But once done it’s important to get over that hangover! It is time you do not end up acquiring a hobby just for the sake of show-off on the virtual platform. Click pictures, do yoga, cook delicacies, dance your heart out but avoid posting them online. In that way soon you will develop a hobby that will be long-term!
Spend time with the people around you, sans the mobile phone– seems impossible again? Most of you are living with your parents during this lockdown. Try having a daily conversation with your parents at least for an hour where your mobile phone will not be with you! You might initially get distracted or feel something is missing, not being able to concentrate on the conversation. But practise makes one perfect! You will see that you have been missing a chunk of your life because of the mobile.
Prefer alternatives for social media urge: That urge to go online, check out the latest post, hit a like and comment can be put under control only if you find another serious activity to do. List out things that you like doing. Then sort out the ones possible without social media. Even if you find one such thing, start meditating on that. Very soon you might feel that your virtual presence was your ‘want’ and not exactly the ‘need.’
On this note may be its time we understand that our survival is not complimented by our social media presence. There was a world just sometime back when we survived without the urgency to go online and all of us are capable to doing it again! Social media of course, is a boon. It connects us with the worldwide, but one should be careful not to let it rule your life. So yes, social distancing from social media is a thing! It is possible and is highly recommended.