14 May The Rise of Mobile & Social Media: A Good Thing? (pt 2/2)
In my last post I took a look at how the social web and the advancement of mobile technology is impacting our lives in a beneficial manner. I diarised a typical work day for myself to demonstrate just how often I use mobile applications and social media, and how this has made me more productive, more efficient and more engaged with my working life, whether I’m at my desk, on a train or in a meeting. But is this necessarily a good thing?
An article in The Times last Saturday, which prompted this double-header, revealed that the Germans have coined a term for a growing unsettling of our time; Freizeitstresse, or ‘free-time stress’. It refers to worry over how we use our precious spare time; the fact that we work harder and longer hours, have consequently less free time and so feel like we must use it wisely. People can’t relax on holiday; weekends are time to achieve things around the house; doing nothing is seen as lazy and a waste of time. An expert in this condition from the German Sport University in Cologne said: “Figures show that about 75% of people are incapable of relaxing; even on holiday they experience high levels of stress and feel more overburdened than anything else.”
In modern working life, certainly in the UK, the USA and Germany, people can’t or don’t switch off from work. They need to be in touch with work 24/7 as much because they need to feel needed than any genuine necessity to be contactable at all hours. And I can’t help but feel that mobile technology and the social web exacerbate this problem. We have emails on our mobile; we can access our network on Twitter at any time; we’re in constant touch with work. Evenings and weekends are no longer sacrosanct now that we’re carrying around a portable communications device in our pockets. I remember when mobiles first became mainstream and resisting getting one because I didn’t want work to be able to contact me wherever I was. And yet that’s put firmly in the shade now that clients can email me in the evenings, the boss can text me at weekends and my Twitter network can message me when I’m asleep.
And, rather stupidly, I feel pressure both to be contactable and to respond. Everyone knows I have a smartphone and don’t need my laptop turned on. And I’m very sure that I’m not alone in this – do you feel this pressure? I do my best to fight the demands of being totally connected via email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, text message et al. Not long ago I shut my Facebook page down for a month and was surprised by the results. But it’s a losing battle really, especially for someone working in digital communications. The web stops for no-one.
The title of this double-post questions whether the ever-advancing technological advancements in mobile technology and the social web are a good thing. In my last post I presented what I feel are the benefits; making my life easier, fuller and more efficient. In this post I’ve suggested that maybe we’re all driving ourselves into an early grave by relying on them. So what do you think? How do you cope with the demands that the mobile/social web place on you? Or it is just me – do you feel no demands?
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