I am a social media addict.
I spend countless hours scrolling feeds, not so much as a distraction from my real life, but because I actually care about the posts. I love seeing photos of family I miss back home as much as those miles down the freeway that I lack time to visit as often as I'd like. I enjoy reading the top ten helpful household hints from my favorite domestic ninjas as much as the year's best rants about almost anything that doesn't involve a jock strap. And frankly, I love reading the inspirational quotes from Nelson Mandela as much as all the dirty details from Demi Lovato.
On any given day, social media has the power to fill me equally with laughter, sadness, anger and joy. Why, then, am I so very tempted to throw in the towel? Quite frankly, it's the excessive posting of those very same lists on my feeds that serve as (repeated) reminders of so many things I dislike about our society. Here's why.
1)We are always in a rush. We rush through our meals, our calls with our mothers (except for you, Mom) and our work days in an effort to get home and rush through whatever is left on our plates so we can rest for a few hours before getting up and doing the whole thing again.
2)Whether with regard to the size of our butts or our bank accounts, we are obsessed with hierarchy.
3)Speaking of butts, whenever possible and regardless of founding, I blame the Kardashians.
4)Our attention spans are so short that we avoid reading prose whenever possible.
5)These days, we only care about the big picture. I can't imagine how many times someone has asked me whether I've heard the latest news headline- but has no further information. We pay attention to headlines, but not the cause.
6)They assume the reader is unengaged... or stupid... or both.
7)They include filler, much like this item, because I felt like posting seven items would make for a better title than six.
I want to live in a world where lists are reserved for groceries, chores and incredible places to see before I die. I want to live in a world where handwritten letters are better than texts (or love letters better than sexts) and heartfelt emotion isn't replaced with acronyms.
Thankfully, I understand the difference. As for you, I can only hope you would have made it this far had it not been for my use of a list.
#SMH.
Follow Karri-Leigh's adventures as a television producer, blogger and mom on Dirty Laundry & Dirty Diapers.