Recently I moved into my own place. The phrase “economic reality” has acted as the bucket of cold water on my enthusiasm towards independent living.
In other words, someone has to pay the bills and that someone is now me.
It wasn’t like I was completely naive, expecting my life to remain exactly the same after moving from the comfort of my parent’s place to the foodless, furniture-less four-walls of my new place. How could it? But I guess I figured I would be a little less stretched.
So, while I adjusted to my new living arrangements, I elected not to set up Internet service until I knew whether I could afford it or not.
It would be three months before my computer would access Facebook at home.
Three. Months.
As much as I cringe to admit it, I really think I missed out. Here’s why: Roughly 80 per cent of my social activities are arranged through social media. With me down and out, I missed all the invites and thus, the events. I was a social recluse for those months and fought feelings of loneliness and isolation.
It really made me think about my online experience and how much I rely on it. The way I interact with my friends has completely changed in the past three years. It was this, which reminded me of the first time I dealt with my social media motives and was the inspiration for this month’s LifeTrac article, To Post or Not to Post. As much as I wish it wasn’t, social media is here to stay and I need continually evaluate how I conduct myself online.
Please check out this month’s LifeTrac article and let me know what you think! How do you think you’d respond if your usual way of communicating suddenly changed?
By Robyn Roste
Read bio and see more from this author
