We are sitting on a see-saw of an online and offline world. The ease and access to the online side are creating chaos in our offline world leaving us hanging in the air.
Even if we segregate the work and non-work stuff, still a big proportion corresponds to the online activities that we are engaged in subconsciously.
We won’t admit but yes, we are addicted to our phones; watching reels or shorts; scrolling up and up as the hours pass by; and smiling and laughing in the bubble that we have created with us and our smartphones.
Then some legends did not even break this bubble while on a commute to the washroom or during a meal; albeit the latter task may get difficult to perform.
It’s time we pause and ask certain questions to ourselves; what I am doing with my online health? What I am watching? And how long I had been watching?
Is the content benefitting me to raise my knowledge or I am just acting like a bot to increase someone’s views? How worthy is the content not to take a toll on my mental well-being and get me carried away?
Is the information provided factual or is it just a piece of crap under a nice marketing gimmick? And why I am swiping left and right shopping online for stuff that I don’t even need just because it looks lucrative enough not to resist and traps me with discounts and captivating images?
In the digital world of today, where we are busted by social media technology, we need to stay highly vigilant regarding what we are served online through various portals.
How we are consuming and utilising it in context to our online health. Reels and shorts seem highly accessible things to reward yourself after a tiring task or a long day of work. You sit for a few minutes to watch and after an hour you are full of guilt because you know you have wasted much valuable time.
Dr Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist, says this is because we’re not using our brains properly when on social media – a medium devoid of the ‘deep thinking’ that is the exercise our brains need to keep fit. “Your brain changes moment by moment, according to what you expose it to.”
Moreover, the screen change pattern while watching shorter-duration videos is detrimental to your cognitive behaviour. There is increased distraction, lack of focus, loss of creativity, and distorted feelings and sleep patterns.
No wonder, the latest research findings attribute to brain aging, as we are not utilising the grey matter to think but to react to the already squirting information.
One moment you are smiling, the very next moment you are laughing like hell in your world, and subsequently you feel like crying because you watched something over emotional. The gush of varied emotions in a jiffy is not a sign of sound online health. We, humans, are not made for outbursts of varied and hopping on and off sudden emotions for prolonged hours.
Jotting all this, I don’t intend to advise you to give up on your online activities entirely.
Make a checklist regarding how you are spending that time; is it worthwhile or worthless? Is the quality of content worth your valuable time?
Swap the shorter-duration videos with longer educational videos, podcasts, or a worthy movie. At least set a timer for the time length of shorter length videos that you are watching so you will not override and your online health is not barred.
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