Does getting in the Christmas spirit mean getting off our smartphones? Or does social media provide an online network of people celebrating the same holiday? The question is, are we spending Christmas with the people who matter?
With only 3 days until Christmas, how will you spend your day? Isn’t it time we put down our smartphones and picked up our presents? Although we live in a digital age and social media has become a part of our everyday life, it’s to be questioned whether Christmas day should be an exception…
What does Christmas mean to you? Family? Food? Religion? Presents? Or are the Snapchats more important than the time spent celebrating it?
In my opinion, I think it would be crazy to suggest that anyone could go without their phone for a whole 24 hours, we like to stay connected and social media gives us this opportunity. On a day mostly spent with family, it allows us to catch up with friends and people who can’t be with us, distant relatives and just generally see what others are up to on such a widely celebrated day…
However, can seeing everyone else’s ‘perfect’ day put a downer on yours? New research shows that hours spent on social media, especially during the festive period can negatively affect your emotional wellbeing, rather than improving it.
Maybe we should be living in the moment and making memories rather than constantly recording them all… Plus, keeping up with anĀ online persona can be tiring, surely? The editing to create something that isn’t true, a construct of your online self, in an online world. But on a day like Christmas, should the real world come first?
Now, I’m not suggesting for one moment that smartphones and social media should be banned because that just wouldn’t work. Too much time with your family can definitely sometimes be too much, but maybe spending a little less time sucked into the screen might make for a more memorable day…
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