Actually, I was sitting in front of the computer for a great interview. I wanted to write down the notes of my interview with the author of a great novel I read, and write down my analysis of the book, but somehow, all my concentration was destroyed by the social media notification that appeared on my phone screen (I remove my phone from my face while writing). I think this is the general malaise of this age. We all inevitably
suffer from attention deficit. There are so many stimuli around that it is impossible to remain insensitive and concentrate on a task. Even if we don’t have a phone in our hands, we have all kinds of worlds in our minds. We view people who have never opened a social media account as aliens. As our loneliness increased, we added new phobias. Yes, we have a brand new phobia, I just got news; FOMO (fear of missing out) is the fear of missing out.
In the colorful, lively and constantly active world of social media, we cannot get rid of the colorful eating, drinking, traveling and having fun videos that constantly come our way. While you are sitting at home in your pajamas, someone is going to a concert somewhere, sharing photos from a play, a picnic image comes to your mind, or going for a walk, and some are eating a nice meal somewhere, tasting vintage wine, or, I
don’t know, a glass of raki during the day. The air is fresh and you are missing that life in your pajamas at home! That feeling of loneliness is sinking in. You need to do something immediately, you need to share two or three colorful videos and say “look, I am also a part of this colorful life”, or so it seems to you.
Aloneness and loneliness are actually very far from each other. Not only have we confused the two, we have come to sing the praises of loneliness and bless our new “disorder.” Then, we found ourselves despising these “wonderful” lives we saw on social media, but at the same time, we could not help but be in those colorful images. We didn’t say that life was hard or easy, we wanted to shout from time to time, “Look how crowded I am”, or “Look how sophisticated my tastes are”, or even “How beautiful loneliness is”. So why? Why are we so concerned about being visible? Why do we keep our phones in our hands and look at the tiny screen in our hands to see who wrote what and shared what?
Of course, the pandemic had a big impact on this, the need to look at that screen at our hands was to be able to meet at least a little bit with many people that we could not hug, but then the end of the rope was lost. Now the feeling of missing out on life has turned into a social phobia. Actually, we are not doing anything good for ourselves. We have difficulty defining ourselves. We glorify loneliness and rejoice in crowds.
You may remember from the incident that happened to us very recently, Instagram, the most colorful place of social media, was closed for a reason that still has no logical explanation. For a whole week, we were unable to access the colorful and lively magazine we had at hand. Although closing this is the subject of an article in itself, what I want to touch upon here is rather the effect of FOMO on us. A week passed with a withdrawal crisis. Aside from the questions of who is where, who is eating and drinking
what, who is on holiday with whom, we are prohibited from a stimulant that preoccupies our eyes. While those who connected using VPN still did not feel disconnected from the world, the majority who persistently waited for Instagram to open preferred to think that they were not disconnected from the world by using other social media accounts during this period.
A new one has been added to our concerns; FOMO. In this age where detox camps are gaining popularity with all their popularity, new detox programs should now be added. Leave your “smart” phones out and only take your “dumb” phones with you. It has an on and off button to stay in touch with your loved ones, you can only message via SMS, you are away from unnecessary WhatsApp groups, you are free from the blinding lights of social media, you can just stay in the moment, enjoy the moment, and focus on the delicious times with the person next to you, where you do not have any stimuli to disturb the taste of what you eat, drink and the air. I think there is an urgent need
for detox containers. Telephone rehabilitation centers should be established. But not stopping this by banning social media should of course be the right method for individual rights and freedoms. If you think you are seriously addicted to social media, you should immediately delete the applications on your phone and put your phone down slowly.
Maybe we should always start the day with this affirmation; There’s nothing you’re missing out there, I’m enjoying the moment.
