COVID-19 (Part 5a): Protecting Your Health from the Dangers of Social Media
Dr. Mokeira J. Nyamache
About 12 years ago, a friend who was visiting Kenya from Germany introduced me to Facebook. I had never heard of that phenomenon. Apparently, it was a way to keep in touch with friends from all over the world in real time. You could even make new friends just like the way we used to have pen pals in primary school years ago but in a more efficient way. No envelopes nor postage stamps were needed. I just needed my computer to be connected to the internet. Therefore, I took to studying Facebook and how to add friends and request for friendships;
updating my profile and pictures to always look dashing; updating my timeline; commenting on my friends’ updates etc. I would rush through my daily activities just so that I could log into Facebook and see who liked my pictures, commented on my status, requested for friendship and checked on me…It was amazing. Being a night owl by nature, sleeping at 1am due to the prolonged chats with multiple friends was usual. Of course, this meant that my already not very productive mornings were even less productive. The liberty of being self-employed and not having to conform to certain timings compounded the situation. The bliss of virtual connection got better. It became apparent that many similar platforms existed and continued to be developed. I could sign up to multiple ones at the same time. Nimbuzz, Skype, IMO, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram, Twitter, LinkeIn, Tiktok etc.
It was normal to casually just mention to people that they could find me on this or the other platform as alternatives to face-book. They would keep me up most of the night and spend a lot of my energy during the day catching up on chats and timelines. It was part of being cool. Keeping up with these things on a laptop quickly ceased to be trendy. One needed to invest in a smart phone and keep up with the newer versions with better features in order to optimize the experience. The pictures needed to be clear, showing flawless skin in perfect lighting ready for instant updating…and they kept getting better.
How much money I spent on all this catching up escapes me because it was too much to keep up with every few months, with or without other financial obligations. At school or work; the gadget was in my hand or just in my pocket, where I could easily reach for it in case a message came through; even in the middle of a ward round…Dating, friendships, family connections, work relations all became virtual. The world was in my hand. My virtual connections knew 90% about me just by looking at my Facebook page at some point. I updated everything about my life and hanged on to the comments and likes that came through. It was as if I was validated by the virtual world. This is when the meaning of basic needs as my lovely teachers in primary school had taught me changed in my life. They could no longer be just food, shelter and clothing; Internet and a smart phone qualified for the list. To continue...