(Spring) Break From Social Media

Spring break is only a week away for NDSU students and over 2.1 million other college students across the U.S. This seems like a fitting time to talk about the sometimes much needed escape from many aspects of our lives but also from social networking sites. When you think of spring break you may think of vacationing, partying on the beach, working, or just going home and resting.

Student City

Another thing we should be reminded of doing is detaching ourselves from our computers, smartphones, and in general the virtual world that is social networking. This break is going to be important for me to get away from the stress and hassles of working two jobs, going to school, family and friends, and my social networking life. Just as with sleep in real life we need to take planned break in our online life every once in a while to get energized. I don’t believe there is a certain amount of time. It’s different for everyone.

For example, someone running a small business that relies on social networking sites as a big part of its business should not take more than a week off. But a busy parent of 4 young children that works in a non-social networking related workspace might be able to take a few weeks off at a time. And for me personally, I think taking days around holidays off and also this spring break week off is a good idea as it will help recharge my mental and physical batteries while having a good time.

The reasoning behind needing to recharge ones batteries from social networking is that it is not a passive medium like traditional television. Social media is an interactive conversation between either two people at the least but capable of up to millions and millions of people. People are constantly able to think about not only their own (sometimes extremely mundane) thoughts, but everyone else’s also.

Another reason we need to take a step back from social networking sites is because a lot of us have become addicted. A news article from WHEC-TV in Rochester, NY says there are new studies that liken Facebook to a gambling addiction. It also states that the more friends you have on Facebook the more stress you will encounter.

In the following infographic I found on Mashable.com there are some interesting yet scary statistics illustrated. Take note that there are over 10 million comments made in just 20 minutes on Facebook. And I believe the addiction shows moreso than anywhere else in this stat: 57% of people talk to people more online than in real life.

Mashable.com

Yikes, now that is a lot of information to take in. I’m stressed just thinking about my social network life now. Spring break can not come soon enough!

Tweet of the day:

charliesheen Charlie Sheen

Face it folks, you just feel better when you say it. #WINNING