Last two weeks, I get a Dm on my Twitter account and it goes “Dedoyin I need to book a session ASAP”..
A call is eventually scheduled and Tola ( a made up name) tells me how she literally can’t seem to stay away from IG for a fifteen minute stretch. There’s the compulsion to check. The scary part for her is how she wakes in the morning and the very first thing she wants to do is go online.
First stop: WhatsApp. Check new messages, reply some, ignore others. Check a few statuses…
Next stop: Twitter. Check trend table, read funny and savage responses from influencers, invest in tweet ratios and drag whoever is being dragged…
Next stop: IG. Sees five new followers. Checks their profile. Follows two back. Then the scrolling begins… fine faces of humans trying very hard to portray perfect lives… sees useful reels, saves some to watch properly later… and keeps scrolling and scrolling .. and scrolling… and scrolling… And it’s 11am! Four hours gone! Just like that!!!
(Side note: don’t get me started on Tiktok😭)
Nothing achieved for the day. Just social media shenanigans and vibes. Tola feels like a failure. She makes a promise to herself not to go online until she’s done with her to-do list for the day. She attempts to commence task 1. No strength. Low morale. She lies down and without thinking, picks up her phone, completely on reflex. A compulsion. She’s at the mercy of the sweet and gentle seductions of social media. She’s addicted. Hooked. She can’t seem to get enough. Social media has her by the jugular.
The more she tries to escape, the deeper social media claws its fangs into her veins, injecting the sweet, heady dose of time wastage and lack of productivity, garnished with a thick slice of guilt. The injected poison works itself into her mind and creates an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. The most interesting part is how Tola might be broke but always miraculously seems to be able to have data. Data after all, is the new Oxygen.
It’s safe to say, that Tola’s addiction to social media is not a one-man disease. It’s a global pandemic. There are varying levels of Tolas in all of us. Everyone seems to cherish their phones over the people around them. We’re all fast becoming thoughtless zombies whose brains seem to be resident in a smart phone.
Like Tola did, it’s high time you paused and took stock of your relationship with Social media. Is it healthy or addictive? Profitable or Fruitless? Have you got control over how many minutes you wanna spend online per time or are you in a toxic entanglement where social media dictates the way your time is spent… ?
‘Dedoyin
We need to make a conscious effort to get addicted. Thanks for the reminder.
It's all about balance. Everything has its pros and cons. Thanks to social media, I found your blog, which is very enlighten and eye-opening. Keep up the good work!