There’s only one thing left to do: confess while you still have time. Let’s face it, the daily grind started well, but became more mundane by the hour and your virtual “social life” just couldn’t wait. In fact, why should it? It only takes a few minutes to hop online and update the Facebook status you changed five minutes ago.How did social media become such an integral part of your daily grind? And yes, time used perusing Twitter and Facebook using your phone counts. According to Learnstuff.com, many Americans struggle with the urge to log on, and the amount of time wasted satisfying our online appetites may surprise you.
According to the site, in the U.S. alone, 12,207,423,487 collective hours are wasted browsing social networks every day. People even spend twice the amount of time checking Facebook than exercising. Simply taking a look at these two facts shows where the urgency lies.
Maintaining a social life is easier than ever since social media supplanted good old-fashioned tête-à-tête. You know, actually meeting people – giving hugs, shaking hands, and face-to-face conversations – communication pastimes. But the advent of social media has come at a cost. Ignore the awkward grey-cloud it casts over basic interactions, and focus on the tangible effect it has on productivity.
Each social media user costs their company $4452.00 a year, and ultimately costs the American economy a whopping $650,000,000,000 a year – clearly a “fiscal cliff” in itself. Moreover, 1 out of 10 workers spends more time online than they actually do working.
The results aren’t confined to the workplace. Students, arguably the most socially integrated segment of society, perhaps struggle the most. The average college student spends three hours a day checking social media sites, compared to just two hours of actual studying. GPAs of routine Facebook users are a full point lower than students who resist constantly logging on.
It’s a problem; a problem that will only increase with the development of online media. Still, life without social media sounds embarrassingly upsetting, assuming you’re included within the average workforce and things get stale from time to time. Ask yourself: Is my time well spent? If the answer is yes, you probably don’t have an active social media account. If it’s no, then get back to work.
