You knew it was coming…some scientist or other claiming new media will be the death of us all…or at least will have damaging effects beyond repair. Scientist sends chilling warning to parents that social media harm’s children’s brains. (Side note to my mother: Guess you were right…we are turning into the Borg.) Lack of focus and need for instant gratification is indeed prevalent in today’s generation, but I think it is a bit extreme to place the blame solely on social media. I won’t argue nurture versus nature. We should go ahead and agree to disagree and move on.
The birth of the Internet placed a wealth of information at our fingertips and turned all of us into compulsive comparison shoppers. There is so much knowledge and so many choices. Making a decision amongst the vast variety is draining. It is not that we cannot focus, but that we have options galore. Choosing one choice over another means the phantom death of all those choices we did not make. The ghosts of such unmade choices haunt us until we drive ourselves crazy!
I hope neuroscientist Susan Greenfield is right and that social media will cause brains to rewire. Perhaps then, I could digest everything I take in each day and not be haunted by the ghosts of Door 1, 2, 3 and 5 because I chose 4.
How do you make it easy for your community to digest the content you spit out daily? Is your online presence scattered across the worldwide web? Or do you practice a centered approach? Checkout the online hubs of GM and Southwest. These companies make it easy for you to snack on their content and enjoy a variety of options without the fear of one choice leading you down a rabbit hole from which your return to sunlight will be long delayed. Enjoy the sunshine.
(Photo courtesy BeneToZi.)
