Fall 2013

Social Media

The Sword With No Handle

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Social media has the power to do some amazing things, but it can also be a big time waster if you’re not careful. You may have considered deleting or abandoning some of these accounts, or have temporarily, only to reactivate them later on. Deleting your account can be a hassle sometimes, and it’s not necessary if you’re able exercise self-control. There are some really positive attributes to social media that you risk missing if you delete your accounts.

Social media is a great way to connect with people and get valuable information. You can organize anything from study groups to massive protests with social media. Just consider some of the revolutions that have occurred, and are occurring in the Middle East. Many of these uprisings have gotten their massive support using social media to allow people to connect with others. In this sense social media is a truly powerful tool. Social media can also be a tool to help you with more modest things too, like keeping up with your favourite music artists (you’ll never miss a concert again!) or connecting you to interesting news articles and educational pieces. Deleting your accounts can mean missing out on some valuable information just when you need it. There is a definite darker side to social media that can be hard to avoid.

Some days it can be really hard to focus, and this is when social media unveils its dark side. You may have opened up your laptop to get an early start on that essay or review your notes for that coming exam, but instead ended up spending the entire night watching YouTube videos of cats wearing tutus…Don’t worry though, social media distraction happens to everyone and with the five tips below, you’ll find it happening a lot less!

Tips and Tricks to Make Social Media Work for you and not against you!

Measure the amount of time you spend on social media. For one week, keep an accurate record of how much time you spend on your accounts. This will give you an idea of how much time you really are spending online. Afterwards you can set goals for yourself. Once you start to abruptly tear yourself away from whatever you were doing online, you’ll find it a lot easier to do the next time!
Pick out what’s most important for you to keep up with online. This means that first you may need to reduce the number of accounts you use. If you find you don’t use an account much, and only check it out of habit or to keep up with couple of people or organizations, delete the account and subscribe to those people in an account you use more often.
Delete, delete, delete! You may have amassed a grotesque number of Facebook friends, YouTube subscriptions, etc. Take some time to delete or block people or things you aren’t interested in. That band you haven’t listened to in two years won’t notice you’re missing, and the same goes from that person you haven’t talked to in years and posts a lot of nonsense on Facebook you don’t want to read or see. Once you’ve cleaned up you’ll notice the amount of information you have to filter through for interest is a lot smaller, and that saves you time!
Avoid “trolls” and getting sucked into arguments that aren’t going to end. A “troll” is internet slang for someone who deliberately posts a provocative message on the internet somewhere with the intent of starting a massive argument. Maybe the person has said something very offensive and you really want to write something to show them how wrong they are, but most of the time it’s not worth it. They aren’t interested in learning from what you have to say and just want to get a reaction.
Subscribe and follow things that help you learn and feel productive. Follow and subscribe to accounts that are relative to what you study. You might find that this increases your interest in your school work because it helps you connect ideas in the classroom to what’s happening in the real world. Chances are you might come across something that sparks an idea for that project you need to complete at the end of the term.

If you follow those tips, you should be able to reduce the amount of unproductive time you spend online significantly, and reduce the chance putting yourself in a bad mood. Social media can be really helpful and amazing tool, but if you’re not careful, you will end up hurting yourself with it!

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