#facebookdown

Last Saturday, as Schalk, Mariné and I were driving through the spectacular town of Stellenbosch, I remember asking them: “I wonder what we would think if we had been away for twenty years and were transported back into the world.  Surely we would be baffled looking at everyone everywhere staring at their smartphones the whole time…?”

As Mokokoma Mokhonoana recently said: “People who smile while they are alone used to be called insane, until we invented smartphones and social media…”

And then, only two days later, on Monday evening after class, I was about to announce the weekly winner of our Summer Challenge on our WhatsApp group, when I suddenly had no connection.  At first, I wanted to blame it on my internet service provider, but then I thought: “Shucks, maybe it`s because I haven`t accepted the new WhatsApp privacy settings yet!  They must have simply cut me off!”.  But then I saw – no access to Facebook or Instagram too, and a few minutes later Mariné sent a text message: “This is a global thing!”

It was the strangest feeling – “It was as if WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram just said, “Goodbye, we’re leaving now.”  All sorts of strange thoughts crossed my mind – What would happen if social media and WhatsApp suddenly just went away for good?  Would we all just suddenly be on the phone all day and night to try to update everyone?  Or would we drive around town with a bullhorn and broadcast messages…?

…Those of you who have known me for some time, are familiar with my ordeal last year when my Instagram profile was stolen by Turkish hackers.  Within seconds I was deprived of my 20k followers and all the beautiful content I have worked so hard on for months!

This was different.  The outage last Monday that lasted for five hours, affected more than 3,5 billion people around the world and proved just how dependent everyone has become on these vital communication platforms.

Forget Facebook and Instagram for a second – the smooth running of my studio depends on our communication on WhatsApp. It’s crucial.  Billions of other companies and people too, rely on WhatsApp and social media to distribute messages and expand their businesses through advertising and outreach.

Technology outages are not uncommon, but to have so many apps go dark at the same time was hectic.  Apparently, some Facebook employees were even unable to enter buildings and conference rooms because their digital badges stopped working!  Luckily Facebook eventually restored service after a team got access to its server computers at a data centre in Santa Clara, California.  The company apologized for the outage, and life returned to “normal”.

But I couldn`t help thinking about this “normal”, this craving we all have for 24/7 connectedness, and double blue ticks, and followers, and subscribers, and likes and comments.

I confess.  I`’m a texter.  But most of us are.  We rely on WhatsApp groups to smoothly run our lives and our schedules.  For the most part, I think we all love to converse with such ease.  It’s convenient to arrange Christmas plans and weekend visits from our desks at work, and it means that we are always in the loop with people we don’t  see often enough. 

Always, when I’ve had a tough day, it’s comforting to know I can vent into our Bonniebraes WhatsApp group with Schalk, myself, Eswee and Mariné and get instant love and support, rather than having to wait until the next time we’re all in the same room together…

But I realize that a huge side effect of my constant texting is that I rarely use my phone as an actual phone.  You know, to make calls.  That’s a far cry from my teenage years when I’d spend hours a week “hogging the landline” – my dad’s favourite phrase – to talk to my friends.  And I know I’m far from alone in this:  Did you know that WhatsApp is used by a whopping 84% of adults?  There are more than 100 billion WhatsApp messages sent daily, and the average person spends 2,5 hours per day on social media!

No wonder Tristan Harris, Google’s former design ethicist, calls our smartphones “The slot machine in your pocket.”  He explains that the analogy between the gambler and the social media junkie is hard to avoid.  Because, just like gamblers rely on dots on a dice and graphemes on a fruit machine to tell them if they are winners or losers, we have all come to rely on social media, double blue ticks, likes, shares and comments to tell us who we are and what our destiny is.

Harris explains that when we post a status on social media, we are actually asking for a verdict…Would someone please acknowledge us?

I cannot state enough how much value Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have added to our studio and our place in the fitness world.  I have witnessed how one viral post can catapult your brand, and our posts are an integral part of the success of our studio.

But I cannot help feeling a little shameful, now, that I have written in my Blog about the 27 000 likes from our “Tekkies Brand” Facebook post, and I can’t help feeling very vain boasting on our Summer Challenge group about our 3500 YouTube subscribers and 23000 followers on Instagram.

I have heard people calling last Monday’s outage on 4 October “The great social media blackout of 2021”.  Maybe it’s a good thing it happened – it made me stop and think a little, and I’m sure you did too.

In her book “The defining decade”, bestselling psychologist Dr Meg Jay writes: “Despite its revolutionary promises, Facebook can turn everyday lives into that wedding we have all heard about: the one where the bride chooses her prettiest friends, not her best friends, to be her bridesmaids.  It can feel like a popularity contest where being Liked is what matters, where being the best is the only respectable option, and how our partners look is more important than how they act…

It can be just another place, not to be, BUT TO SEEM…”

I have decided that I’m going to make sure that I call Delien and Adele this week, instead of just sharing something on our “Sussies” group.  I am going to remind myself of the fact that the 23,4 k followers on Instagram are not all actually friends – most of them are merely contacts that I exchange data with.  Before I post anything, anywhere, I’m going to make sure it’s relatable and credible.  And, before I send any WhatsApp, or before I click or comment, anywhere, I’m going to think – is it true, is it kind and is it necessary?

Above all I’m going to try to be better in real life, than on social media.  To BE, not SEEM TO BE.  And you?

#truetomyself

Yours in fitness

Mirna

082 779 0507