Social Media Distraction Essay

Today, everyone is constantly busy with school, work, extracurricular activities, and much more, but how do they manage to include a social life? People try to squeeze many activities in their life to maintain productivity. By trying to do too many things at once, our brain becomes overwhelmed which makes it difficult to concentrate. How can social media, being a distraction, diminish our capacity to function properly? Being occupied with other events while using social media lessens their ability to process and comprehend information. These events could include school, work, or other important things they may have going on in their life. Social media also distract students from their studies. Whether they are in class, driving, or out with …show more content…
There are other distractions such as eating, drinking, talking to people in the vehicle, and fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system. Anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving is a distraction. Although teenagers today are aware of the dangers of using their cell phones while driving, they continue to engage in these behaviors. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are approximately 660,000 drivers who use electronic devices while driving during the day. This is very dangerous because their full attention is not on the road, but instead on their device. Texting takes the driver’s attention away from driving more frequently and for longer periods than other distractions. It takes their attention away from driving for a longer period of time because they have to read and process what they received. Other distractions such as eating or fiddling around with the entertainment system can be done while looking at the road. Although these options are not safe either, they are more safe than texting and driving. According to Icebike, 1 out of 4 car accidents in the US are caused by texting while driving. This number may seem low, but once the number is put into perspective it is a …show more content…
The interactions with others, behaviour, and personal health, all have been affected because of the distractedness of social media. In the journal article Distracted by Raymond Gozzi, he mentions why teens use electronic devices: “They use electronic contracts to avoid face-to-face interactions. It is easier to text someone a short message, and get texts back, than to actually talk to them” (Gozzi 111). Through the use of social media, people can pick and choose what they want to involve themselves in, whether it be conversations, events, etc. By avoiding face-to-face interactions, they begin to lack the social skills necessary in life. This could lead to illnesses such as anxiety or depression and even pull them away from reality. Gozzi also mentions, “The ‘magnetism’ of the media is pulling our consciousness into the media zone and away from reality. Electronic illusions are grabbing our attention. The world of real experience fades into a background” (111). Social media does pull our consciousness away from reality. It only does this because we allow it to distract us from reality. People become so focused on social media and every aspect that follows it rather than focusing on themselves. They will focus on everybody but themselves on social media and when it’s time to take a step back into reality, they have a hard time because their mind is not in the right mindset. This different mindset