It was 19 March 2007 when I signed up for Twitter. Just like other social media platforms I signed up for, it was barely touched until almost two years later when more people I knew became active on Twitter. I thought what the heck, give it a try. I don’t know why people would be interested in knowing what I ate, when I slept, what books I read and so on, but I figured I would at least give it a try.
It wasn’t long before I was hooked, and boy, the addiction was bad.
First thing in the morning when I was awake, I would reach over to my bedside table, pick my phone up, and access the Twitter app (I use Echofon). I checked it at least once every hour (Twitter APIs only allow a maximum of displaying 200 new tweets per refresh). I checked Twitter when I was having meals with my husband. The last thing I did before I slept (lights off and everything), would be to check Twitter again.
Obsessed much? Yep, that’s me.
It went on until about a few months ago, when I decided I’ve had enough. When I missed the hourly mark of checking Twitter, I got antsy. Did I miss any important conversations (i.e. I’m a nosy parker)? Did I miss anything I should know about (again, a nosy parker)? What if I missed this or missed that?
It seems so trivial, doesn’t it? It’s just Twitter, for heaven’s sake. Why the obsession? I’m not that crazy about Facebook as I am of Twitter, so thank goodness for small miracles. The same goes for Instagram, Pinterest and other social media networks. I wouldn’t be able to deal with them if I was addicted to all these platforms simultaneously.
The thing about Twitter is, it fascinates and frustrates me at the same time. It’s such a public forum that when something happens, everyone wants to know and everyone knows. I know about major news and events around Australia and the world first before reading or watching it in the news. If there are disagreements going on Twitter (that sometimes escalates to fights), I can’t help but want to watch. It’s an overload of information that many a time my brain just cannot process.
So why do I continue to do it? Why the social media addiction?
A month ago, I was reading a magazine (can’t recall which one) when I stumbled upon an article about the obsession with social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The author said that the reason we hang on to Twitter and Facebook like that is the fear of missing out. We’re afraid to miss out on what’s going. Afraid to miss out on important announcements, trivial and not-so-trivial news, afraid to miss out what people may or may not be saying about us. It was a lightbulb moment for me.
She was right. I was afraid of missing out. I wanted to always be in the know, whether the it concerns me or not. After being hooked for so long, it’s like my brain wants to automatically take in everything, whether it’s trivial information or not. What if I missed out on something? But you know what? To tell you the truth, after a while, it’s bloody exhausting.
It’s time to slowly wean off Twitter. I’m now on 2-hour checks instead of 1-hour checks. I’ll try not to turn Twitter on before I sleep (at least, 11pm cut-off time if possible). The same goes for Facebook. I finally realised that I don’t need to know every single thing. I don’t need the unnecessary negativity that Twitter sometimes portrays. Such a simple concept, yet it took me so long to figure it out.
I’m not going to swear Twitter and Facebook off for good (where’s the fun in that? ;)), but I definitely need to take a step back from it. It’s time to enjoy a meal without a phone next to the plate.
What about you? Are you addicted to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and/or other social media platforms too? Do you also have the fear of missing out?
I do check it occassionally but not on an hourly basis. For one, my follower and following base is tiny and I like to keep it that way. Facebook is a whole new different ballgame. I check it once a day or if I have something to post. I’m not THAT interested in other peoples’ lives ROFLMAO
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LeGeeque: I wish I wasn’t that interested in other people’s lives. But damn if Twitter isn’t such a soap opera sometimes. So much drama. It’s like a car wreck; I shouldn’t see it but I just can’t tear my eyes away.
I need help 😛
I used to check twitter ALL THE TIME and probably still do, however I’ve become better at letting things go. For example, if I’ve had a busy day with little time to check it, I’ll just check my mentions and that’s that. Yeah, I might miss something, but what did we do before Twitter?
Maybe we need twitter addicts anonymous.
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Chelsea: I know, right? Excellent question. What on earth did we do before Twitter?!
*waves hands in air* Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt! 😀 I’ve started cutting back primarily because work started getting crazy, and then I realised there was too much crap going around online so rather than get sucked into the crap, I decided to step back. Its now much more refreshing for me, and maybe for those who follow me – they don’t get so much of my crap either 😉
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Paris B: That’s my problem. I feel like I’m being sucked in the crap that doesn’t even concern me. Really, it’s like a soap opera on Twitter these days. So much drama, and it’s not even my business but I still wanna watch. Nothing good on the telly these days, y’see 😛
For someone who’s online ALL DAY (due to work) I’m surprised I’m not that addicted to Twitter, I can even leave my weekends Twitter free! 🙂 I guess I’m currently more obsessed with Instagram as I like looking at photos of my favorite ..food, dogs…etc.. 🙂
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Nikki: That’s really good, Nikki, keeping weekends Twitter-free. I’ve observed that the people I follow on Twitter are a lot more quiet during the weekend, but tweet a lot more during working hours 😛
Haha! You are describing me, but in reverse. For me it’s Facebook. If I had more time I probably would be addicted to twitter, so it’s probably a good thing I don’t.
My blog is now also my obsession. I check it/update/research constantly throughout the day and even if I get up to pee in the middle of the night I take a quick look (via phone app) LOL. Saying that out loud is kinda scary. Really scary!
😀
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Kaye: Hahaha I know what you mean by blog obsession. I get it every now and then, especially with web stats. Had to pull myself away after it got too much for me to handle.
I’m getting there with Facebook. Up to beginning of this year, I never used to have Facebook on when I’m working. Now, it’s like a permanent fixture. When I check Twitter, I check Facebook too. Oh dear.
I finally got my blog its own Instagram. Oh dear indeed 🙂
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My addiction is Facebook.
Being away from my home country, I miss my friends and family a lot and the only way I keep in touch is via Facebook cos let’s face it, many people aren’t exactly great at keeping in touch but are awesome at posting frequent updates on media platforms. LOL.
That being said, it’s pretty much what you’ve said in the above.
I really have this love hate relationship with FB. I know I waste a lot of hours on it when it could be better spent elsewhere but… ‘click’ and am on FB checking updates etc.
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Goingkookies: Haha spot on there! Keep in touch via email and phone? Err no, sorry, no time, forgot. But there’s always plenty of time to post on Facebook. Hehehe! That’s how I keep in touch with mates in Malaysia too 😛
Was addicted to Facebook for the game Mafia Wars. But work really got too much, and I dropped everything. I am still handling Twitter well because all I have are beauty updates, and I only subscribe to people I really want to read. No Tom, Dick, or Harry. Hence all the tweets are more or less interesting and helpful.
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Jyoan: Oh my goodness, I remember my addiction to Facebook due to one of the games I used to play years ago. Bugger, now I can’t remember which game it was! My colleagues and I would play it at work, which of course made us highly unproductive 😛
I’ve been culling my Twitter follows (still am). I want to keep it under 100, but that would mean I have to remove at least 200 more. And when I do unfollow someone, I get asked “why did you unfollow me?” Awkward.
i didn’t use twitter that much until 2 or so years ago when i start to find more ‘interesting’ people to follow. i don’t consider myself that addicted to twitter since i don’t check it hourly. but i hate missing out most of it. sounds contradicting huh? lol! while i don’t get to read everything (because i follow too many people) it bugs me when the app stuff up – as in, it doesn’t remember where i was or just automatically assumed i’ve read everything when i use the app. still looking for the perfect twitter app.
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Coco: I know what you mean by missing out. That’s how I feel too, which is why I check my phone so damn often.
As for twitter apps, I’ve been trying out many for years, ever since I got my 1st generation iPod Touch. The perfect one for me (and I’ve been using this for at least 2 years) is Echofon. I liked it so much that I purchased the Pro version. It goes to the last tweet you’ve read (but it doesn’t load more than 200 new tweets. That’s Twitter’s restriction for APIs), and gives me push notifications. Very simple interface, no frills, no fancy colours, but a good app nevertheless.
I used to be like that too!! The same fear feeling of missing out. Other than the usual friends’ updates, I usually get to know a lot of updates about those skincare/cosmetic brands current event or sales. That’s what I fear of missing out through social media 🙂 Anyway, I’m not as addicted as last time currently 🙂
Michelle: Me too! I follow friends, bloggers, brands, PRs, and with that you get RTs from them, etc etc. Overload of information, but I still get sucked in nevertheless 😛
I was in a similar place to you – I was completely sucked in to knowing what was going on, and I felt like I lived my life on Twitter. It was a problem, but I didn’t really feel like it was a HUGE problem. I started to really hate the politics I could see happening, but I figured I would just avoid getting involved, and it would be all good.
After a really bad experience recently, where a group of people “ganged up” on me because of (what I thought was) a completely innocuous comment, I have sworn of twitter almost completely. It drove me batty for the first few days, my fingers were itching to open the app on my phone, but do you know what? I feel so much better now. I check it every few days, simply to respond to direct comments, and other than that, I don’t even look at it.
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Sara-May: I know, I saw the tweets. It was an unfortunate comment, but I thought it was completely uncalled for to have people gang up on you like that. I don’t understand why there’s a need to RT some tweets, and not let it go.
Twitter has become some sort of soap opera platform. A lot of drama going on on such a public forum. To tell you the truth, it scares me a lot of the time when someone on my timeline starts arguing with another person who’s also on my timeline. Then you have people from their timelines coming in to join in the ‘fight’. It’s like a mob 🙁
I check it once in a while but I am not addicted to it. I’m at work all day and I only get the chance to check it when I get home from work. 🙂
Issa: Haha that’s good! I *ahem* notice most tweets on my timeline happen during working hours, and in the weekends, it’s rather quiet 😛
no addictions…yay 🙂 do check out pinterest…its way more productive than twitter and facebook….totally love it 🙂
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Swati: Somehow, I’m not that into Pinterest … yet. Oooh but don’t get me started or else I’ll get hooked like Twitter! 😛
Oh I definitely get this post! I check twitter constantly at work – it’s terrible! I need to cut it out!
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Kimberley: Haha welcome to the club! 😀