The high price we pay for social media
I think I&#x27;d amend the piece a bit. Personally I think we&#x27;re playing a high price for mobile phones. Granted, much of the harm is being done by social, but really it&#x27;s the addictive nature, the &quot;always on-ness&quot; of this that concerns me the most, in all the reading, research and life experience I&#x27;m doing.<p>My son, who is now 17, spends - I would imagine, he doesn&#x27;t know because he&#x27;s too frightened to switch on Screen Time - maybe 10-14 hours a day glued to his phone. He&#x27;s now at an age where I have no agency over him - he&#x27;s an adult in 6 months and he&#x27;s got to figure out his own way - but it worries me.<p>In his specific case I&#x27;m actually <i>less</i> worried than with many of his friends. He&#x27;s bright, and uses the internet to figure out and watch some pretty rad stuff. It isn&#x27;t all shit, and although a fair proportion of his use is Insta, it&#x27;s using it as an instant messaging tool rather than a pure &quot;social media&quot; tool. He rarely posts, and I suspect may be different to his (female) friends in that regard.<p>But here are the two points that are rarely talked about that are actually the most important ones to consider:<p>First, if anyone was doing <i>anything</i> for 12 hours a day, it&#x27;s probably an issue. If my kids played football for 12 hours a day, or made Lego, or cooked, I&#x27;d be concerned. It&#x27;s just not healthy to be that ensconced in a thing, <i>let alone</i> when that thing is as hugely, highly addictive as phone use &#x2F; social media. Even if that thing was the healthiest thing in the world - say someone I knew went out running for 12 hours a day - man, I&#x27;d be concerned.<p>Secondly, it strikes me as &quot;out there in the world&quot; that this is the biggest issue. To me, as a 50 year old man, it&#x27;s bloody weird anyone spending this much time online, but to be outdoors, or at a bar, or a restaurant with your partner, or looking after your kids, or looking at a sunset, or on the beach - and be <i>constantly in your phone</i> - this is insane.<p>Living a life, a real life, with real relationships and real sunsets and real beaches - is an enormous privilege. Many of us are wasting it. Life is short. Leave your phone at home, and truly live it.