Easier than breathing

At the beginning, the commercialization of Internet had a well-meant purpose behind It, pointing to unite people all across the globe.

To be able to talk to your relatives in Europe from South America in a matter of seconds

To be able to buy your christmas presents without having to go to the store.

To have access to educational information without spending lots of money in books or going to a library.

However, As in every medium of communication, for every piece of information that is good for you there is 10 times more distractions.

From Videos that are the equivalent of a reality show, to short uncomprehensible ads that make you feel worse about your status...

Even people that take a great portion of their day to just hate on another person.

Losing time in the Internet is something that even If we don't want to admit It, we do every day and for considerable amounts of time.

That's why in this article I'll talk about many ways in which we tend to waste our time in the Internet, all so you can be aware of when you are doing It and get rid of the spell these things have upon you.

Let's begin:

1.- Arguing with strangers

Internet is like a magnet for ill-intentioned people, who might have had a really bad day at doing something they hate or even worse, doing nothing at all, thing which makes them deeply resented, with angry thoughts that they don't know how to control, so they take It all at strangers in Social Media.

These people are the reason for why you see comment wars in any video or publication If you just scroll enough through them.

Discussing about a particular topic is not bad, As I consider It something necessary for our development both as individuals and as communities. However, this is positive as long as both parts share respect for the other and only refute the Ideas of one another, not attacking the individual.

That's exactly the problem that happens with social media "Debates", where people just tend to insult the other person more than focusing on the topic of discussion, not explaining the reasoning behind their ideas though just in proving themselves right and making others feel bad about themselves.

So, the next time you find yourself in an argument with a complete stranger in Instagram, remind yourself of the value of your time.

2.- Hate Campaigns

Sadly, this is probably one of the most common things in the cyberspace nowadays.

You see a famous person making an honest statement about a particular subject, something that others might not agree with. Then, instead of understanding the other person's opinion and engaging in conversation with them to chat about It, they hit below the waist.

They begin to dislike everything that the other person publishes, they enter in all of their posts to try to ridiculize them and fight with their fans, followers or subscribers, now paying more attention to them than the influencers they actually feel interested about, letting them live rent-free in their head.

This is what happens frequently in the mind of the detractors of highly famous and controversial celebrities, where they now seem to define their personalities from what they are against rather than what they stand for.

And yes, they can spend days, weeks, months or even years on this.

3.- Distractions:

The most common iteration of wasting time on the Internet.

Nothing like telling yourself that you're going to check your phone for a couple minutes.

Then 20 minutes pass like they were nothing.

The feeds in social media are designed to be this way: Highly entertaining, easy to digest and really addictive.

If you keep looking at the posts of every people or brand you follow, It'll be much more probable that you'll end up buying things from them. Even If you don't follow that many people, algorithms will make sure that you see images of things you might like, closing a loop of dopamine for moving your finger up and down.

This is probably the hardest thing to control, so...

If you are serious about reducing your social media usage, you should keep away from your phone and block these apps for a determined period of time.

I hope that this article could have been of use to you, talking about the main ways to waste time on the Internet, depicting the state of these websites, where Its users tend to be more like puppets that fight against each other more than human beings. I encourage you to always think for yourself and to value your time as your most valuable asset. Thank you for your support and good luck!.

P.S: If you liked the new format, please comment to let me know If you would like to see It more.