social media | Life is a Maker Faire

Amanda Tipton Flickr CC http://goo.gl/gUHxH5

I know we are in the age of information all the time but this weekend I have had enough. I am connected all the time and really for no reason. If you are someone who is connected and it ok with it. That is great. Keep it up. I just realized living through a screen is something I need to stop doing.

What made me come to this realization? This weekend started on Thursday night for me because I was feeling pretty ill. I slept a lot but there were times between Thursday night and Saturday morning I was laying on the couch with “nothing to do.” I say that with quotes because even though I was feeling bad there is always the TV or better yet, that book I haven’t finished. Instead my phone was within arms reach so I would grab it and see what was going on in Facebook and Twitter. After a few minutes I’d put the phone down and pick up again and do it all over again. This was really bothering me. I began to think about all the things I don’t have time for. Would I have time for them if I wasn’t aimlessly trolling Facebook or Twitter? Most likely. I began to pay attention to how much I pull my phone out of my purse or pocket to see what is going on. I realized if I am not driving, I spend most of the time in the car looking at my phone screen.

Now I am not completely banning social media in my life. That would be crazy not to mention, impossible with my work. But I think I have made a decision to make it a little more deliberate when I am online with social media. Instead of clicking the app and being connected I have logged out of the app. Is it worth my time to log in (although it only takes a few seconds) to see what is going on or to post. Should I spend time in the here and now? Can that post wait until later? Or will it matter if my online world doesn’t know my every move?

Last week my husband shared a NPR article with me about the amount screen time and children. It stated children with more screen time had trouble reading human emotions. Is this the same for adults? I think this article planted the seed for me to begin thinking about my own screen time and if it’s worth it.

Do you ever think about logging off? What do you do to not allow social media to become too much in your life?

I have been fake blogging for years. I have recently decided it was time to revisit what blogging really means to me. I have always kept separate blogs for the education part of life and the my crafting. I would post on occasion. I used to blog more and recently I have asked my myself why don’t I make the time anymore? Why is it so hard?

I have come to a few conclusions. 1. Since I started blogging social media have become a major part of the culture and my life. There isn’t as big of a ‘need’ for me to blog because I’m constantly microblogging – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are my connections to my people. 2. I am used to keeping everything separate. Each topic I am interested has it’s own blog, webpage, Facebook page, twitter account, etc. Why? In my mind, everything needed to be separate. Work couldn’t mix with my personal life. But we all know, everything mixes together in life and it is ok for my online world to reflect this.

So welcome to the relaunch of my blog, Life is a Maker Faire. I have mashed up my blogs to create this one location to celebrate arts, crafts, education, and the Do-It-Yourself mindset. This blog will explore my work in technology education and my maker, DIY side. Who knows what will happen when these two worlds collide online! Hopefully it will be an interesting fun ride.