Social Media addiction has been a growing concern for some time now, but there's always another way of looking at it -the fun way!
The lure of social media is a temptation that very few can resist. A recent study by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) neuroscientists suggests that even when we are resting, our brain craves social interaction. “The brain has a major system that seems predisposed to get us ready to be social in our spare moments,” says Matthew Lieberman, a UCLA professor of psychology, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences. He adds, “The social nature of our brains is biologically based.”
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest have gripped our minds, and urge us to constantly express emotions publicly. Users can also experience a condition known as 'Digital Dementia', and suffer a deterioration in their cognitive abilities, like short-term memory. So, the question is – are we becoming tools to our own tools? Are we a generation of no-knowers and blind followers? If you feel you have signed off your life to Mark Zuckerberg or Kevin Systrom (You probably don't know him, so FYI, he is the co-founder and CEO of Instagram), you need to meet these people who have taken it upon themselves to recognise the emerging trend of social media addiction, some with a hilarious twist to them.
1) College Humour: Collegehumour.com was founded by two high school friends in 1999, and since then, has become one of the most popular websites for curated comic content. This video is a Nickleback parody, and uses fun quips to describe how some Instagram users will click & capture just about anything to get more likes, or catch more eyeballs.
2) The Security Awareness Company: SAC is a company trying to make online security awareness fun and entertaining. Many users are unaware of the fact that social media websites are a huge security risk. Users freely share personal information on these online communites, without realising that their data is now up for grabs. Here's a witty parody of the famous old song 'Every Breath You Take' by rock band Police, that tells you how stalkers track your daily actitvities on websites like Facebook, and chat platforms like Skype.
3) The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon: Now, who doesn't know Jimmy Fallon? The comedian, television host, actor, singer and writer is a one man army when it comes to comedy. This video starring singer Justin Timberlake is a jab at the Hashtag culture that we live in these days. Thanks to Twitter's huge popularity, people cannot resist creating #Hashtags of anything and everything. Watch and enjoy!
4) "Weird Al" Yankovic: Weird Al, whos real name is Alfred Mathew, is a 55 year old singer/songwriter/parodist who is known for his sarcastic but resounding lyrics. This video titled 'Word Crimes' takes cue from Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines', and is an attempt to stop people from ruining the English language on social media. IM (Instant Messaging) platforms like WhatsApp, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger have taken a toll on people's writing skills, and 'Textese' has become the new language for internet enthusiasts. Watch this video, and you might just want to go back to school all over again.
5) Gary Turk: Lastly, we take a look at this serious film on social media addiction by flimmaker Gary Turk. Gary came into the spotlight last year when he released this thought-provoking video on how the current generation lives in a virtual world, completely disconnected from reality and the people around them. Beware, this one is a hair-raiser!
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Adamya Sharma
Managing editor, Digit.in - News Junkie, Movie Buff, Tech Whizz! View Full Profile
