So many aspects of our digital activities generate guilt these days. Someone said to me: shame is our internal critic, guilt comes from outside. So where does this digital guilt come from? Why do we feel so bad about every single email, Facebook message or tweet? Why do we cringe when sitting down at our laptop to work?
Oftentimes when I introduce myself and start talking about the positive impact of digital on our wellbeing people call me (aka class or label me – which I do not like) as an optimist. When in actual fact I am not a digital wellbeing optimist at all. I am an optimistic sceptic if you ask me.
Apologies for the hard to read font, but I did this on purpose. See how when presented on the red the font is bolder and on the yellow light. This is so symbolic for me, especially when it comes to the conversations around online gaming.
So let’s start to think about how to manage and nurture our digital wellbeing. The first thing I do with my clients is to ask them to make a list of the benefits of using digital technologies.
Today I would like to point out another paradox in our conversations about digital wellbeing. Most mainstream articles blame social media platforms for the mental health state of our nation. Now, aside from a simplified, unsupported argument about mental health in general, we need to start thinking about how the social web actually works.
Our online and offline experiences are interconnected. Digital is part of our reality – it’s not out there, but here…honestly, it’s been here long enough to take it seriously instead of demonising it.
Working as a digital wellbeing consultant, coach and counsellor I come across the idea of complete unplugging almost all the time. The conversations around digital wellbeing are almost fixated on the idea of switching off the Internet…as if our online identities and belongings were clearly defined online and very separated from our offline reality.
Well, that’s simply not the case.
This month I reflect on our journey so far. So many of us walk this path making choices based on mainstream myths around the impact of digital technologies on your wellbeing that I have decided to write more about the facts. Facts are…complicated.