The world may be going overboard with social networking but there’s a growing number of people who are simply quitting. Here’s why
Life’s full of moments. Precious time spent in the company of loved ones, amidst nature and sometimes, just by yourself... with a notebook perhaps. According to science, these are when ideas strike... when there’s real interaction with the world around.
Because some of mankind’s biggest leaps happened when just one person had this moment of instant, unparalleled clarity triggering flashes of genius. We’re glad Newton was not handing out likes when the fruit landed. We’re happy Archimedes was not ‘posting’ in the bath and that Edison had enough focus in him to invent — and finally end up holding 1,093 patents to his name. These are our finest Eureka moments — and pen went to paper to register life-altering observations.
People are trying to achieve these moments of intense focus and clarity. Talk to former users and they speak of quitting social media as if they’ve been successful in fighting a drug habit.
“It has been seven months since I have quit all forms of social media,” says Hyderabad-based techie Akash Agrawal. “I can’t even begin to explain how productive I have become. I used to spend an average of at least four hours browsing... looking at what people are doing.
But now, I have invested that time in activities I want to pursue and yes, quitting has helped tremendously. My advice? Just quit. It’s hard the first few weeks... but then there’s this freedom from distractions.”
There are many like Agrawal. In fact, 11 million young users have left Facebook since 2011. It does pale in comparison to its over 1 billion monthly active users but the exodus has been large enough for the tech firm to take note.
You see, social media companies are pouring millions to increase one particular aspect in their analytics — time spent on sites. The global average is 20 minutes but Facebook says a consumer in the United States spends over 40 minutes on the website. Juxtapose that figure to where the US economy is now and you have a broad understanding of what’s happening in that country. For social media companies, time spent is extremely important because it’s an absolutely water-proof statistic for advertisers looking for a good platform. More time spent, means more time to look at ads!
And Facebook’s trying to increase time spent. Last year, the company thought up a plan to alter users’ moods to make the product more “alluring”. The company soon took flak with many activists slamming the giant for turning its users into lab rats and soon there were calls to stop the experiment.
The quitters
Well, society is urging its own to take up experiments too. There are apps which are now helping us stay away from the storm of social media distractions — they turn off alerts and the more extreme ones do not allow you access between a set period of time. There are campaigns being organised! 99 Days of Freedom is a Dutch collective which is asking people to “abstain from Facebook for 99 days” to then find out how their lives have improved. “Joining the 99 days of freedom experiment only takes a few minutes. Yet it saves the average user 1683 minutes. That’s well over 28 hours of freedom! We will contact you after 33, 66 and 99 days, to see how you’re doing,” the campaign blurb reads. It's not just Facebook either... March 5 of this year is the National Day of (total) Unplugging, which is part of the Sabbath.
Celebrities are quitting too. In India Ranbir Kapoor has openly admitted he finds social media “boring”. “It’s a mystery to me. I don’t want to tell people ‘I am eating now’, ‘Now I am walking to the bathroom’. I don’t understand the need to share these boring details of my daily routine with the whole world. I don’t think I am interested in Twitter that much.” Others find no need of these networks. Kannada actor Shivarajkumar, the eldest son of legendary actor late Dr Rajkumar, avoids all social media interactions.
“I do not want to share every decision in life with the world. I am very much aware of the developments in the society and I do my best to react to it in my own way. Recently, Chennai was hit by floods, and I did my bit through the right medium. I am a strong believer that whatever good deeds are done in life should be done for the sake of goodness without worrying whether such deeds are in the know of others. I constantly interact with the press and that is how I still reach people. I like to stay connected with my fans directly. My phone and my home are always reachable to them. Sometimes on social platforms, we are asked unnecessary questions on every issue, and I feel it unwarranted. Too much publicity is also not good either.”
But the most damning, recent observation comes from Ashish Hemrajani, the CEO of Bookmyshow. He decided to delete his account after he discovered that a friend who had over 1,500 pals had just six people showing up at his funeral. “If you don’t want to wish me on my birthday, it’s okay; no love lost. Or pick up the phone and reach out, old school. Or come to my house and have a drink with me. I don’t find it necessary to tell people what I’m thinking at any point in time,” he said. Model Jackie Besterwich explains the intrusion she has to suffer. “I was on social media for many years. But after a while it all got a bit too intrusive and way too consuming for me. I’m a bit old school and a fiercely private person and still prefer doing stuff the old fashioned way. It keeps me saner, grounded and human... I can’t handle being that accessible all the time.
Frankly I find it too scary. I’m quite happy with just emails, calls and messages. It gets my work done and that’s about it. I have a lot of close friends who do egg me on, but I’m pretty clear about what works best for me and social networking is just not my cup of tea.”
The future
Will the world quit as one? Highly unlikely. But everyone from yoga instructors to your boss are asking you to go ahead and do it — for your wellness and productivity. The numbers are claiming a certain portion of the adult population is wisening up and indeed quitting... however, the youngsters are still part of a rising trend of peaking numbers. Thing is, this is the population the world's relying on for the next big, life-altering eureka moment. We can only hope pen goes to paper, and the finger’s not hovering over like and share buttons for over fours every, single day.
