Bharat Ek Soch: People, across the globe, are trying to strike a balance between productivity and well-being. A serious debate has emerged time and time again regarding how many hours a person should work daily to truly accelerate the pace of development. To build a strong economy, how many hours should be sufficient per week or month? As India eyes joining the league of developed nations by 2047, some are advocating for a 70-hour workweek, while others are pushing for 90 hours. Amid these discussions, another critical problem faced by the world is that it directly affects the mental health of a large population. This has not just affected the youth but also the elderly of the society. In fact, from offices to factories, the overall productivity of the nations is affected.
Here we are talking about social media and its negative impact. According to data, there are around 100 crore smartphone users in India. More than 37 crore accounts are registered on Facebook, while over 30 crore profiles are active on Instagram. Notably, an individual spends roughly 5.5 hours daily staring at their smartphone’s screen. There is no weekly off or any holiday included in this. This means that a person works 48 hours per week in the office. At the same time, they spend 35 to 38 hours a week staring at their phone.
People spend a large amount of time scrolling through reels on social media or watching the filtered lives of others. Have you ever wondered where one must make compromises to spend five precious hours out of 24 hours daily on a smartphone and social media? Let’s understand how the pressure of remaining active and online is making us lonely. How is social media making us imitators? How is it affecting our behavior? Is the digital world making us lonely when at home with family, at the office, and in society? How is social media negatively affecting the education, language, and even health of children? Today, we will try to seek answers to all such questions.
Social Media Or ‘Lapataganj’
Over the last two decades, technology has had a profound impact on every person’s life. 4G and 5G internet has eliminated the gap between home and office. On one side, an employee remains physically present in the office, but he is online outside working hours. Even when he is staying at home, he remains connected with office colleagues on social media.
For instance, someone sent a message on WhatsApp. Immediately after the double tick turns blue, the sender understands that the message has been read. He/she eagerly awaits the reply. This shows how important it is to reply because replying online is linked to micro performance. The other reason could be that consistently staying online improves our image. During this process, a person is slowly becoming mentally tired before time, and then again continuing with the office work.
Everyone Must Choose A Time
The pressure of staying online is the actual reason why today’s youth gets mentally tired before reaching 35 to 40 years of age. This makes them think whether they should bid goodbye to their jobs or not. Therefore, for mental health and well-being, one must develop ‘digital sanskar’ where every person decides how much time they want to stay online or how long they wish to stay offline in 24 hours. Today, most jobs require working for maximum time. In such a situation, it is also the moral responsibility of the companies to offer a break to their managers who are forced to always stay online.
Can’t they go completely offline for 10 to 15 days at an interval of two to three years, if given a chance? This way, they can get rid of their mental fatigue. At the same time, it is nearly impossible to recharge ourselves, reverse the changes, and go back to the old times. But we must try to find a way to take care of our mental health amidst the pressure of always being online. Social media takes people to a new kind of pressure zone, under which the desire to see something different or new makes us delve deep into the world of 6-inch smartphones.
There are 86,400 seconds in 24 hours and 3600 seconds in an hour. An individual posts pictures of some moments from his entire day with filters on social media. Through his post, he tells people how happy his life is, and he is exploring America, Paris, Bangkok, Malaysia, Singapore, and so on. Those who cannot afford to visit abroad, roam within their country. Notably, social media is creating increased pressure to wander, plan trips rather than spend time personally.
Losing Mental Peace And Precious Time
It is evident and understandable that the REEL life of others on social media influences people, and they start imagining the same life. They start feeling that the other individual’s life is better. Social media is making a large section of society suffer from an inferiority complex and dissatisfaction. This is a mirage in which people do not see the real challenges of real life. The hard work and struggle behind the struggle to achieve a better life are not visible. In this process, an active workforce is losing both their mental peace and precious time. Not just this, but spending hours daily on social media is affecting one’s family to a great extent.
Social media has promoted an inclination towards showing off and comparison, and made relationships of two types. This means that social media is rapidly pushing a large population towards artificial relationships and dual character. As the saying goes, ‘Past is History & Future is Mystery’ – the future depends on what we do in the present. However, the reality is that most of our precious time is spent on social media watching the filtered life of others.
Bitterness In Relationships
In this addiction, an individual gradually starts being disconnected from the real world. He is alone everywhere – in the office, among friends, and with family. In the pursuit to get rid of this loneliness, people allow space for extramarital affairs. This leads to distrust and sometimes crime in the relationship between husband and wife. Social media is also harming the mental health, education, speech, and habits of children. There is a serious discussion going on globally on how to protect children from the negative effects of social media.
Smartphones have become a crucial part of our lives. If it is misplaced accidentally and off, we grow desperate, confused, and restless. Social media has found its way into people’s lives and has become an addiction, which is not easy to get rid of. It is taking away a child’s early years, health, education, and even friends. Even when with parents, a child spends time on the smartphone. He becomes addicted to the virtual world and chooses an influencer as his hero. There is less space for emotional attachment and concern.
Increasing Interference Of Social Media
From maintaining social behavior to communication, the interference of social media is gradually increasing, which is continuously making people emotionally weak and lonely. There is a need to think about three questions starting today. First, how to reduce the pressure of always being online. Second, how to improve family relationships and social interaction by reducing the use of social media. Finally, how to protect children from the negative effects of the virtual world.
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