The average Gen Z gets a notification every 8 minutes. Comments, likes, and share notifications suck us right back into our screens, no matter the time, day, or occasion, to encourage even more interaction than we already give. Social media, initially a casual pastime, has transformed into an essential part of our lives. Social validation is obtained through posts, interactions, and virality.
Can I keep up? Modern vacations require posts of sunsets on the beach, aesthetically pleasing photos of our meals, “candid” city pictures, and live story updates. We’re in the epitome of “pics or it didn’t happen” stage of the internet.
In a time that demands so much of our lives, what does it mean to opt out of participation? To keep intimate moments to ourselves, to be completely present during special (and mundane) everyday happenings, to resist the dopamine hit that comes with the wave of notifications?
In a time where a complete stranger can see how your last breakup is treating you, privacy is a radical choice. Privacy is human and encourages human connection; “why would I have to ask how your mom is doing if I can see you visited her last week? I don’t need to wonder how you’ve been if your profile is always lit blue.”
Social media leaves nothing to the imagination. Sure, we cherry-pick what goes onto our profiles – you see the best picture out of the entire photoshoot – but that post still narrates and illustrates the pictures that others have in mind of us.
Turning away from the ever-demanding conveyor belt means reclaiming your time, your attention (and attention span!), and the form of connection social media breeds that can only be surmised as novel and shallow
