When I’m sitting in class and I have absolutely, “nothing to do,” I pull out my iPhone and begin the endless scrolls down social media pages. Sometimes, I feel guilty about how much time apps, like Facebook, suck up. Is it really helpful for me to be checking them whenever I have a free second? I say that as long as it doesn’t become an unwavering obsession then sure, go ahead and double tap that Instagram picture or add that photo to your Snapchat story.
In this age of constant and consistent communication, the complete absence of apps, especially the more helpful ones like LinkedIn and Evernote, are going to make life somewhat more difficult. Apps are what get everyone up in the morning with that loud buzz of the alarm or get us to that place we’ve never even heard of on a map. If apps are considered “time wasters” then obviously I’m not spending enough of my time on them because a lot of the inner workings of our relationships and personalities are on apps.
It is how this generation communicates. It’s as simple as that. Calling apps a waste of time would be a hard argument to follow up on considering the amount of communicating we do on them. What else are we going to do with our time? Watch grass die or take a stroll in the park?
Apps were created to make life easier. It takes more time to take out a map or go online and print out directions than it does to quickly enter an address into the maps app. Yes, I will admit that when it comes to social media apps, the term “time waster” can definitely be stretched, but some apps are meant to be there when you have absolutely nothing to do.
Take Yik Yak for example; there is absolutely no real purpose behind it, yet students are posting anonymously every second. As I’m scrolling down the feed, I understand in my mind that it will serve no purpose to me personally, and I am totally and completely wasting my time.
Apps can make our daily life easier and streamline communication in a more effective way, but some apps are just designed to be time wasters. The sooner we can acknowledge that, the easier it will be combat social media obsessions. In today’s ever changing technology world, apps allow people to be connected 24/7 by the swipe of my finger. In the end, almost every app is different. It is up to me which apps I would like to display on my phone and it is certainly up to me how much time I spend on certain apps. It is the ones that I use daily, like banking, maps and a fitness tracker, that are the most helpful to me. Apps are never time wasters unless you let them be.
Checking social media apps or staying tuned into media outlets through a news app, is what the world is coming to. Now, that might sound like a bad thing, but the world has never been more fast at communication and apps help organize that communication. Apps will continue to come up with new and innovated ways for the population to stay connected.
