Social Media and Memories

When was the last time you went on a night out, took some photos and didn't upload them to facebook in the morning? When was the last time you went out for dinner with your friend and didn't take a photo of your food and upload it to instagram before even taking the first bite? When was the last time you went out for a walk with your family and didn't mention it on twitter?

We as a generation are consumed by social media. We can't wake up without checking what our friends have been up to in the past 8 hours while we've been asleep. And I am no exception to this. I wake up and immediately check for my phone, break out in a sweat when I can't find it and sigh in complete relief when I discover it under my pillow. Yes, under my pillow! Social media access is never more than 30cm away even whilst I sleep.

But what even is it that is so addictive? Social media is essentially a space where humans can become anti-social. We post photos, status', and events without even realising we're ignoring the person sat infront of us, who with no doubt is probably doing exactly the same thing.

I went to Wagamama the other day for lunch with my friend and spotted a couple sitting in my eyeline. I am all for a little bit of people watching to pass the time but this couple in particular amazed me. Whilst yes they engaged in the odd spot of conversation, most of the time they were consumed by the tiny rectangle glowing box in their hand that held all the secret wonders of what everyone else was up to. How can we continue to live like this?

According to the Independent "The number of Facebook users worldwide has doubled between 2010 and 2013, from 608 million to 1,230 million, while Twitter has 284 million monthly users. Britain is at the vanguard, with the second highest social media use in Europe."[*] That figure is completely astounding yet will continue to rise throughout 2015.

But what want to question is not, why are we so addicted to social media but how is it affecting us? Perhaps even without us knowing. I don't need to remember the taste of my Christmas dinner because I have a photo of it on instagram. I don't need to know what I did 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days ago because I can scroll back through my twitter and will have no doubt tweeted my way through the entire 16 hours I was awake. 

The part of our brain that processes short and long term memories is being destroyed every time we hit the upload button. We're uploading a part of ourselves to the internet every minute of every day and it is unstoppable. The never ending stream of online conciousness spewed onto the homepage of a social media platform.

So think for a moment. The next time you sit down with a bowl of ice cream in front of a movie on a Saturday night, don't pick up your phone. Don't snapchat it to your top 3 friends and don't upload it to instagram only to give it a Valencia theme. Sit back and enjoy every mouthful. Take a few moments of undisturbed quiet away from the relentless and pointless updates from the social media giants.

Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored.