The life of an technophile living anywhere today, is expressing those moments of emotion as a constant stream of data to various Social Networks - FB, Twitter, Instagram, Path, G+. The power of smartphones & data connectivity has exploded into data bomb. Will not be surprised, if the Governments tomorrow are not elected by tweets :)
I personally use all of those networks for various means:
- Instagram: For clicking moments when am travelling & without my DSLR around.
- Path: For places - restaurants, movies, leisure - all for audit trail purpose.
- G+: For sharing information w/ co-workers on various news items - tech, political, football.
- G+Messenger: For 3 months, have been using it mostly to connect with Gooners who are spread across the globe. We share the latest updates, rants, news or anything to do with ArsenalFC. Happened to meet few of them in Bangalore & watched the Arsenal vs Manchester United game with Bangalore Gunners. This week we were amongst the first to have Arsenal FC Fans G+ Community.
- Twitter: Consuming or sharing instant updates about anything under the sun which I like.
- FB: Updates from college friends, (ex)colleagues, travel, interests, etc.
- Last.fm: For scrobbling songs.
- Also there are numerous tech blogs which I follow on a daily basis.
- Using LinkedIn more often over the last 2 weeks. Most of you who are connected would have noticed the activity :P
- Youtube subscriptions are active, but not regular.
By now you have figured out how much of information over-load I go through in a day from various apps at various point of time. This definitely isn't good when you are working or otherwise. Your attention span takes a BIG hit & distracts from your task. Off-late {for the past 2 months} have made conscious effort about how & when I use - Twitter & FB. I check them during lunch / tea breaks & post dinner, during weekdays. On weekends, my usage of Twitter & FB is high; considering football games.
The trigger for the post was this article by Roger Cohen - Thanks for not sharing, on NYT.
Like everything else in life, when it comes to usage, technology too has its share of pros & cons. Instead of blaming - technology, smartphone, social networks, information overload - for not having enough time for loved ones or pursuing your hobby or reading a book or going for walk or run or meeting friends, etc. It boils down to the individuals' approach on maintaing the balance in the eco-system of life. Be it virtual or real, we still have control over ourselves. The day hasn't arrived yet, where machines have taken over & we have limited options. It isn't far, surely gonna happen. But till then, we are the masters of our own lives & we can maintain a healthy balance. Be the judge the next time when you are about to share or like something w/ the rest of the world :)
Image source: DigitalQuarters
Update: 26 Jan 13
If you are a developer, then I recommend you read Christian Grobmeier post 'The 10 rules of Zen programming' This should definitely help one focus & achieve more in the age of social distraction {Twitter, FB, Whatsapp, Emails, SMS, et al}
