Nowadays, the amount of information and irrelevant content on social networks is overwhelming. Here’s how to adjust without giving up on them altogether to Spend Time Smarter.
Older readers remember that back in the early 2000s, they may have sat at their youth room desks with their Athlon XP Palomino 1600-powered ‘machine’, with 512MB of RAM and a GeForce 4 Titanium graphics card. Or a computer of some similar configuration. For those times, it was a solid computer that could do everything you gave him as the task and on which all the important titles of computer games could be played.
From that perspective, with the sound of a 56K modem connecting the computer to a local provider’s network (only a little later the ‘magic’ of ISDN connections could be learned) to access one of the then few sources of information or connect to Yahoo mail, the current paradigm of information availability through which we observe the world around us and the ways in which this information is transmitted were quite distant and unbelievable concepts. We won’t say impossible because everyone who was involved in computing in one way or another at the time, or at least started, allowed themselves to dream of developing new technologies according to what they knew then.
Addiction to Information- Spend Time Smarter
However, we think that few could have guessed how much information addiction we’ll actually develop, largely thanks to the existence of social networks. What used to include connecting to the Internet and routinely searching for what interests you at the moment, today comes down to simply pressing your finger on an app on your mobile device.
By opening the application of some of the social networks, we instantly become exposed to an incredible amount of information and various content, of which we aren’t necessarily interested in everything. From short clips from the lives of your friends and family who may not live in the same place as you, funny videos, news gathered from various sources, ads, etc. – all this is crammed into your feed.
It has become almost unnecessary for the average user to have more than one application, which can sometimes have its advantages if the content we consume is properly and carefully filtered, but often it simply makes us tired. Each of us at least once found ourselves after watching a friend’s summer vacation video ending up watching 20 consecutive videos of strangers trying to recreate the latest viral trend and then wondering: where did half an hour of our lives go? Likewise, many of us are unwilling to face so much content with annoying repetitive ads or refrain from interacting through comments and discussions and simply decide to delete the app or completely remove ourselves from social media.
Make It a Little Harder to Access Potentially Annoying Content- Spend Time Smarter
As much as we can attach negativity to the use of social networks, there are still positive, bright examples according to which this dash of civilization can be used for noble, useful, or at least fun purposes. Therefore, the best solution isn’t always to remove or forcibly delete your user accounts and potentially deny yourself some positive experiences. Here we return to the beginning of this text and the old desktop computer.
As limited as this experience of using technology may be from today’s point of view, it can help us make better use of our time spent online. Try to go ‘old school’ – simulate the lack of modern technology and replace the mobile applications of your social networks with desktop versions. Just make it a little harder to access such content. Desktop versions are often less loaded with ads targeted to mobile users, and the very act of visiting social networks on your desktop or laptop should result in a different way of thinking and accepting the whole world. The amount of suggested content that you aren’t necessarily interested in will be significantly reduced, as well as the amount of time you’ll spend browsing your social network(s).
There Are Ways to Optimize Your Mobile Online Experience
If using a computer for these purposes is a problem for you or you don’t own a computer, there are various ways to optimize and improve your mobile online experience. You don’t have to give up those positive sides of social networks, contact with friends who live far away, positive and inspiring articles and multimedia content related to nature, science, and much more, only if you set and filter your way of using social networks.
Eliminate everything you don’t want to watch right away and check it so it doesn’t show up in the future. Unsubscribe to pages and sources that overwhelm you with unnecessary content and take control of what you watch and read. Sometimes, you can even get content that’s similar to the one you visited earlier (perhaps you wanted to wager at the top Betsoft casino sites just once) even though you just briefly read something in regard to that – blame this on retargeting brands do online.
Nostalgically remember the time when it took you a few minutes to access the Internet and the information you needed, and, if you don’t belong to that happy generation, take our word for it – there’s something romantic and liberating about it.
Good luck with your surfing!
