I am a child of a new-media generation so naturally I have embraced all that social media has to offer; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest and Linkedin are all on my social radar, plus a few others.

Until recently I hadn’t realised how much of my time these social services where taking or even how many I was using; not to mention the pressure I was putting on myself trying to maintain them. This made me ponder about all the recent talk of social fatigue and the various cases of depression and addiction reported by the media.

So let’s break it down and look at each problem in isolation:

Social fatigue

This is the feeling of being totally overwhelmed with the amount of information you are receiving through your accounts, combined with the commitment you have made to update your own.

Social addiction & depression

This is a little harder to pin down as a problem, but I think most social network users would admit a certain level of addictive behaviour when using social media (I know I do). Recent studies have also shown links between Internet addiction and depression, although which comes first is uncertain. The main cause of social depression though seems to be the following of other peoples lives and the inevitable comparisons that we make between ourselves and of those that we follow.

I can see how these two conditions have entered our lives in this social revolution and why some are suffering more than others; now I am no medical professional, but from my own social media experiences I know there are things that we need to be aware of and things that we can do. Here are my suggestion of how to get the most out of social networks without reaching your natural limits:

Limit your social platforms

I have had to do some cutting back myself, I am a registered user for all the networks mentioned in the opening of this article; but I now only use three regularly, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are now my chosen networks. By all means try out all social networks but only focus on a few, this will naturally lighten the load.

Remember, everything is not what it seems

I follow a lot of people on my Twitter network, and they all seem to be having an amazing time, articulate and happy, living in sunny places with perfect families! Now, this is great and I am happy for anyone who is living life to the full; but I know how easy it is to compare your life to theirs, just remember one thing, the people you follow are only showing you one side of their life! ?Most people don’t air their dirty laundry online so we get a skewed perspective, remember, everyone has bad days and negative things happen to everyone, some just choose not to broadcast it.

Have a day off

This is easy, just have a break, whether it is the weekend or a random day in the week! This will allow you to refocus on the important things in life and to be social in the real world.

This is a new world and the full impact of our digitally connected lives is still yet to unfold. Just keep it all in perspective and make sure the balance between the digital and real world is equal.

This is short article to briefly explain what sprites are and how you can implement them into you CSS designs.

CSS sprites are the combination of many images into one large image, each individual image is then moved using background position to be visible within each container; this process is extremely usefull in navigation menus where you would want two or three button image states (This method also nicely replaces the need for unnecessary javascript libraries).

What you will gain from using CSS sprites is better performance from you site as it needs to make less HTTP image requests which will ease the load on your pages.

A simple example:

Firstly, create an image 250px wide and 100px deep, within the image area create two button states with slightly different styles so that each state will be clear to the user (As in the example below).  Save the image as a JPEG ready to use in the CSS.

The CSS:

Then place the following CSS into the head of your document;  this will create the display area for the sprite while the background position will display the first button state.

ul.menu { list-style:none; padding:0; margin:0; }

ul.menu li a { list-style:none; display:block; width: 250px; height:50px; background:url(btn_eg.jpg) no-repeat; background-position: 0 0; }

Next we need to add the hover state, this will simply move the image up withing the same container when the mouse is over the button.  To include the hover state simply add the following CSS after the main menu code.

ul.menu li a:hover { background-position: 0 -50px; }

The HTML:

Finally reference your button in the body as you would normally with the following HTML:

<ul class=”menu”>
<li><a href=”http://nasarik.com”></a></li>
</ul>

To see the final example click here

Overview

And you are done, a simple an effective way to start using CSS sprites in your pages. I have added two links to more in-depth articles on the subject of sprites below enjoy.

CSS Sprites: What They Are, Why They’re Cool, and How To Use Them
The Mystery Of CSS Sprites: Techniques, Tools And Tutorials