Quit social media?

Quit social media | Dr. Cal Newport | TEDxTysons

'Deep work' will make you better at what you do. You will achieve more in less time. And feel the sense of true fulfilment that comes from the mastery of a skill. Cal Newport is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University.

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With the start of classes fast-approaching, it would be remiss of me not to consider quitting social media. I have missed out on a lot of opportunity because of personal distractions. No matter how justified, they scatter focus and productivity. I can excel at anything ... if I'm motivated and focused. The past year hasn't been easy, but the personal distractions are now resolved. However, there's also been a lot of downtime, and sometimes I fall into the social media trap. It is of course in the company's best interest to design products that addict. The only way to be completely immune is to avoid it all together and I can't at all afford distractions.

I don't think the answer is quitting, though, because Web 2.0 (social media) is too valuable of a tool. Reading and participating in discussions has taught me a lot about the human condition that can't be taught in a classroom. I need outlets for opinions, collaboration, writing, teaching and photography. Friends and family really appreciate Facebook posts (personal updates and pretty pictures and photographs of me) and chats (75% of my contacts are located somewhere else and I seldomly travel). I'm not about to stop watching videos on YouTube, either. It would be crazy to abandon efforts on Imzy now (they should be ramped up, in fact).

What I can do, however, is define the scope of my activity. I can't fall into the trap by scrolling endlessly through feeds looking for interesting posts to receive a small, intermittent reward. No more clicking video to video to see if anything cool pops up in the recommendations (another small intermittent reward). No more checking to make sure I know everything that's happening. These are mindless activities, and that is not the real value of Web 2.0 (it's human connection and collaboration).