On Fasting and Diet (Part 1)

It's been a while since I wrote here.  Haven't had the urge to write for a long time.  But here I am now.

Okay back to my title.

Fasting

First of all, let me tell you the story of what happened during the period where I fasted "social media". It's not the usual thing to hear when it comes to fasting.  When people think of fasting, usually it's food.  But I decided to fast something that I thought I couldn't live without and that is Facebook, Twitter, Multiply, Flickr, YouTube, Tumblr and all other social sites that I visit everyday.  The reason why I did this is because I just wanted to stop for a bit and reflect.  I realized that for the past few months I was getting less resourceful and have been resorting to these sites to escape when I needed to do something.  I often procrastinate on certain tasks and I click away to the wonderful world of news and gossip.  So I decided to fast for two weeks.  And to tell you the truth, it felt very quiet - not really the physical eerie quiet, but my mind was just silent with cricket sounds.  I didn't notice how much I got dependent on knowing news through these social sites.  I honestly didn't know what's happening for that two weeks until someone (an actual physical person - not just a name I follow) shares something.  Uh-huh.  Hmmm....how did we end up in a world where all our information can actually be found in a single site?  And yes, the world wide web was still readily available, you can type news and you can see a lot of links to go to.  But through this step, you have to search the news yourself.  But in social media sites, they push you things, events, and news that are best suited to your needs.  You have already chosen to follow particular users, organisations that you like. The friends you "friend-ed" on FB have already similar backgrounds to yours so they post information that are most likely attuned to the things you follow, news you read, etc.  It's great right? It's all right on your fingertips - easily sorted for your reading pleasure.

My questions are:  Is social media really this powerful? Will it affect how people start utilising these social sites? (Basically, will a barrage of hungry companies and brands start plonking all their ads on these sites until you get a bunch load of spam, and before you know it you now have a big spam folder just like in your email provider?)  And how long will the social media trend last?

Just a reminder to us all:  If you wake up one morning to find out that FB has closed down and you can't seem to grasp the meaning of 0 friends, no updates to refresh, no things to 'like', and no Farmville - it is not the END of the world.  You have a life outside of it, go and live it.  Really. You find that you have a much clearer mind and a lot more time to do things.

But in the meantime, click, click.  I am still posting this on Facebook.  :P