I was discussing Instagram with my son, who is of working age, the other day. He had talked me into taking a look at that app a while ago. I like what I see there the same as I like playing some of the games they play. I want to voice my opinion on our conversation. I do not thing he has an opinion on this topic. He only sees a problem and has no idea of what problems it might bring related to his finances and thinking process.
As a successful business man, I see things as they are. You have to work to get ahead in life. I like my hobbies quite bit, most of them started before the internet was a thing. Instagram dominates life for the kids - it's the dopamine hit they get from it. So you can probably review a hundred or more clips per hour. They are all very interesting accomplishments of people on your feed, plus some jokes or rare moments captured by others. See one, smile, scroll, repeat... a hundred times per hour. But how many do you need to see?
If I had gone golfing - one of my hobbies - on the weekend, then gone back out for another eighteen holes just as I finished up the first eighteen, and after that eighteen, done another until the end of the day, I would be very sweaty, for one, but I would also be quite sick of golf. Maybe even sore.
The first round was awesome. The second one, I did not play as well. The third one, my feet were killing me. But Sunday morning came and I got on the course early and did 4 or 5 rounds of golf. Not only that, I got up on Monday morning and spent the entire day on the links too. Where am I going with all of this?
Well, too much of a good thing is never good. As I made more money in my life, I started to eat at my favorite restaurant more and more often. I found that I did not enjoy their food even half as much as I did the first few times. The food had not changed. I was just not impressed anymore. I almost preferred something else.
It is possible to get sick of something you love even if it is always different, like Instagram reels are. I talked to my son about that and he calls that "the death scrolls" - when you are watching them, cannot stop, and keep going thought nothing really impresses you anymore. He sees the problem and knows that it is more fun the next day, for about the first 20 minutes.
I would rather be here where there re not ads and everyone gets paid for what they produce.
I admit that I have stayed on Instagram for a couple hours here and a couple hours there. What comes up as I scroll is news, tips and tricks, natural health remedies, and some politics. I save the ones that are informative and comment on others. It is a large platform, if you are allowed to stay. They do kick people off if they are not stupid enough to "tow the line" as far as opinions go.
Since I have had real accomplishments in my life, I know that after several days of work, I can completely replace the engine in my car and get it running again. Starting it up for the first time after having it all in pieces, just hours before, is a rare and wonderful moment. The feeling of pride and accomplishment is amazing and it lasts. It stays with your for your entire life. How does that compare to seeing tens of thousands of special moments like that on Instagram and just moving to the next one (while being quite bored by it if you are on number 600 for the day.
My kids are both of working age and have both had jobs. They do get up and get to work when they know someone will yell at them if they don't. They have also had solo ventures and the situation is quite different when they are working for themselves. They take most of the day to get out and do the work.
I am guessing that they are getting all the feeling of accomplishment from games where they build things that they can then drive or fly or from Instagram where they see people doing amazing things (that must have taken weeks or months to master) and they do not see any of the hard work that got that IG follow to where he/she could accomplish said feat.
When I play RoboCraft, one of the games I liked a lot when it came out, I noticed that I loved to build my 'bot' and then try it. It is creative and fun. But I would sometimes do more of it than I wanted to. It effected my work if I played during the week. It was also less enjoyable when I played too many hours. Like the golfing example or Instagram.
As a result, I chose to make sure I had everything done that needed doing before even starting a match of RoboCraft. I did that because playing sometimes goes until the late evening. I learned that if I waited some days and then played, I was much better at it and it was way more fun.
So as it is with food, you really do not want to eat the rich food every day until you can't stand it anymore. You don't want to play golf until it becomes too painful (or expensive) to continue playing. And you don't want to watch other people's life experiences or cool tricks until they are not even a little impressive anymore.
Life is a balance and that balance needs to be maintained for one's own good and maximum enjoyment. Self employment takes self control. I am hoping that my kids are able to one day be their own boss. As of now, they do not seem want to push themselves. I work from home and they see that. I can stop and take breaks but they do not realize that I am paying for those breaks by working well into the evening.
I don't think I would be amiss if I said that I am not the only one seeing this. Comments?
but there is still a way to play the game for free.
