Walls, Windows and some thoughts

Earlier this week I was talking to a qualified doctor about social media and loneliness.  Hours, days, months spent  decreasing the big, wonderful world to a "monitor" of 21 inches. Despite these hours spent on the computer in the safety of our homes, more people are lonely than ever.  Despite the possibility of more communication than ever, there is a lot of noise, and not much real talk.  Where the same news items show up on the walls endlessly in the different shapes and and slightly different format, seen from our first row seats or 'loge'.

People are getting defined by their presence on the different sites, and let computer models decide who they should or should not date.  If and when it comes to a real life encounter, in many cases there is a big disappointment.  Because on the net, you are who you want to be, and not necessary who you really are.

How 10% of web users are web dependent. Some of us suffer from IAD, but that could be an overuse of the internet as a form of self-medication for depression.  However, virtual engagements do not stimulate the release of neurotransmitters, such as oxytocin and endorphins, the way real life interactions do. Communication Addiction Disorder is another behavior disorder related to the need of being constantly in virtual communication with other people, even when there is no practical necessity for such communication (think Facebook, Youtube, Twitter,...)

As someone responsible for social media in the job, and spending a lot of time on the web in my free time, it first made me laugh.  And then it struck.

Time to switch off on a more regular basis, and venture in the real world, how freightening that might be.

Marleen