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 an unusual post for me, on-the-whole I like writing tutorials or web design posts but something recently has affected me on a personal level and I feel I need to vent my frustration.  Six years ago my wife and I lost a son and since then we have tended his plot with tasteful and appropriate items, each year changing the toys for something a child of his age would love, that was until the local council ordered this to stop!

I wouldn’t wish the loss of a child on my worst enemy, the pain I felt at the time was unbearable and to be honest still is, as time has moved on I have learned to hide it behind a thin vale of composure.  What has made this pain easier is knowing we can bring him with us in our lives, for birthdays and Christmas’ we take him a gift and a card, at Easter a small chocolate egg, we’ve even talked about leaving a beer or two for him on his eighteenth and as long as we are alive we would keep this tradition alive. 

Now after six years the local council have asked for this to stop as they can no longer get their mowers between the graves!  Sorry did I hear that right, the last time I looked they had started bunching the baby plots so close together we could no longer stand in front of our son’s plot, not without standing on the very ground he lay beneath or on another poor child’s resting place.  For the first few months of the warning we ignored it hoping that the Council would realise their decision was not only wrong but ridiculous, but no, they have stuck to their guns and now we are being told that all items will be removed and stored for collection, only allowing us to place items on the stones themselves.  As you can imagine this has caused great upset for my family and I as well as others who have their loved ones buried at Fleetwood Cemetery and who have kept the plots in a neat a tidy state, this in turn has forced those aggrieved with this decision to call a protest which I will be attending.

If Fleetwood Cemetary was full of unkempt graves with no passion for those who have gone then the Council would simply tend them, but because we obviously care so much for those we have lost, and show it, we are being penalised!  I have been visiting Fleetwood Cemetary for the full six years my boy has been there, all the baby graves have been kept beautifully ranging from plain grass with flowers to others similar to ours, so this decision by the council confuses me.  Are we not making their job easier rather than harder?

I will join the peaceful protest tomorrow to support all those who have lost, whether it will make any difference I don’t know, all I know is losing a child really brought home to me what the meaning of  life really is and the sometimes over-the-top passion and commitent for my five year old daughter is because of that realisation, so is it really too much for me to ask to leave those toys and eventually those beers for my son.

If you have lost and are being persecuted in this way please get in touch, maybe if we all shout together and loud enough local goverments will have to listen.