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Posts Tagged ‘social media’

  1. Addiction

    March 17, 2013 by Amy Hansford

    Spontaneous combustioniser Picture credit: Richard Cannon & Chris Capstick/Guardian

    Spontaneous combustioniser
    Picture credit: Richard Cannon & Chris Capstick/Guardian

    My daughter has an addiction. It’s name is Justin Fletcher. Currently, the only way she can get her fix is continued repetition of The Hokey Cokey from his latest album. As for Justin’s House, we watched three episodes on the trot yesterday. Should the day ever arise where he appears on our doorstep, I genuinely think she might implode.

    As for me, I’m not blameless in all this addiction talk. I am addicted to my phone. Ironically, not because of its use as a phone. It’s a constant circle of checking Facebook, email, Twitter. A quick check of my Carrot to do list results in another circuit. Every message received, every calender appointment results in a twee notification sound and another circuit. I finish my circuit then start it over just in case something has happened in the meantime.

    This is a problem.

    I don’t actually need to know the ins and outs of people’s lives. Reality tv and Social Media have made us voyeurs. I am missing out on my family because I can’t ignore the urge to check my phone. My daughter is in the bath – a quick circuit. We’re out for dinner – a quick circuit. “Good morning darling” – a quick circuit.

    Enough.

    This week, I will be attempting to use my phone for only the following:
    – Phone calls
    – Texts
    – Sat nav (it’s replaced our Tom Tom)
    – Restricted email use (I need to keep an eye out for work emails when I’m out)

    I’ll let you know how I get on.

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  2. Spring(ish) Cleaning

    November 22, 2011 by Amy Hansford

    After various friends having Facebook friend culls, I thought I’d do my own this week.

    Picture care of Doug Savage from over at www.savagechickens.comFor anyone who doesn’t know, you can end up with a lot of friends on Facebook. It starts off as one or two old school friends, the ones you used to share a desk with Then their school friends find you and add you, the ones who never really spoke to you. Then their school friends find you and add you, the ones that used to bully you. But you can’t say no – it’s impolite, isn’t it?
    Then there are the friends you used to see every weekend, ten years ago. The ones who, after an initial ‘So great to see you on here!”, forget to ever speak to you again.
    Not to mention the ones that drive you up the wall with their gullibility (“Facebook are going to start charging £3 a month – I’m not paying! Join this group if you agree”), copy and pastes (“Post this as your status, if you have someone keeping an eye on you from above”) and incessant shouting/use of text speak (XFACTOR 2MO NIGHT).

    And so I culled my friend list.
    My criteria? Those who I’d not communicated with (or visa versa) for over a year or made me want to punch them in the face. I figured I’d go down by about thirty or so. EIGHTY. Eighty people, gone. That’s one in five. And I shouldn’t think any of them will miss my updates.

    Me? It’s not made a huge impact on my feed, but there are less irritating posts and I see more of the people I frequently catch up with. People who weren’t kind to me at school have gone – I feel happier knowing that they don’t get to see my happiness now. And it’s refreshing to have done.

    So, does your friend list need to be so big?

    Picture care of Doug Savage from over at www.savagechickens.com

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