Social Media takes up a lot of our time. Sometimes we are not even aware of scrolling mindlessly through Facebook until someone else points it out.

So, let me ask you this. How often do you take out your smartphone and check it while having a conversation with someone? And when you are on your phone, working those thumbs overtime, what exactly are you doing?

I’m not judging. I spend plenty of time on social media.  I need to be constantly available and online, create and design content, research, schedule posts and keep myself updated. That’s my job.

If you ask anyone who knows me well, they would tell you that I love going out for coffees. And I would drop just about anything to just get up and leave. What does this have to do with social media? Getting there.

A while ago I realised that once I have that beautiful frothy cappuccino in front of me and perhaps a nice fudgy brownie to complement  it, the first thing I do is take a picture. I then play with the filters, write a nice description, tag my friend or husband and finally, post it on Instagram. Seems quite a standard thing to do nowadays. But, I asked myself, why not just delve right in the chocolate goodness? I have a mouth watering brownie just sitting there, waiting for me and my first instinct is to take a picture?

We’re living in a fast paced world where online is all the time. And it has made our lives so much easier in so many ways. But at the same time, I think we’re lacking contact. The kind that matters the most. It’s like being social without being social.

Isn’t it just sad seeing a group of friends or a couple sitting around a table and everyone is immersed in their own little world? Why meet up at all? You can be anywhere. But in that moment, you are there, physically with them. So communicate: face to face. Have a real conversation without any interruptions.

I remember when I had a Nokia 3310; black and white picture. Entertainment: Snake. Facebook was nonexistent, Instagram; not even a concept yet. We had MIRC, MSN and MySpace and had to wait until 6pm in the evening for dial-up Internet access. That was life without today’s social media. Do you remember it?

Amanda x