Social Media Hiatus: interim disruption or a permanent change?
I have not checked in to any of my social media accounts since Friday. No twitter. No tumblr. No linkedin. No Google plus. And on Thursday I shut down my Facebook.
There was no one “thing” that lead to this occurring. I will confess that I had been enjoying social media less as my timeline appears to have been taken over by the political and the negative rather than the banterous discussion that I am used to. That issue though is easily fixed by unfollowing.
It has also been a very busy weekend filled with time with family and friends. And that is probably where my social media vacuum has come from: I have been having face to face interactions with friends and family that has gotten in the way of other social interactions.
You know what though: it has felt great! Now I am not saying that the interactions have been any more genuine or heartfelt because they have been face to face rather than over 140 characters. What this time away from social media has shown me though is the importance of making time to see people face to face rather than just behind the screen of a phone or computer. That is certainly a promise to myself moving forward.
Will I come back to social media is the other thought I have, certainly yesterday and this morning, had. The short answer is yes: this is only an interim disruption brought about by a confluence of events. That said, I think out of this weekend I have learned to seek deeper engagement in my interactions and that is what I will be looking for in my usage of social media.
That means more blogging and tumbling I think over and above twitter because of the greater flexibility the unlimited nature of the length of posts. Bring on deeper interactions I say: but this blog aside not just yet … I think the interim disruption (posts on this blog aside) can last just another day longer.