Online too often, too much? Here’s how to tell

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In interviews, online missionaries say they can pretty much tell if you’ve been online too much, too often for your own good.

There are several symptoms but it can be summed up simply — poor relationships.

One of the organizers of the wildly successful Catholic Social Media Summit last July, Fr. Conegundo Garganta, said a person knows if he has been online for too long if:

•  he is “less interested in meeting people” physically

• he is “less considerate of people’s ‘quirks’”

• he prioritizes online activities over face-to-face encounters

Fr. Garganta, who often tweets media networks about social issues, says interacting with others online should be balanced with actual, physical conversations and activities.

Facebook  vs. face-to-face time 

[Photo credit: corbis.com]

According to an ABC News article, “The time (people) spend chatting, IM-ing, friending and tweeting with people online takes away from face-to-face conversations and activities.”

Social Bakers’ estimates that there are 29,127,540 Facebook users in the Philippines.

That means there are potentially a lot of Filipinos out there spending hours and hours on social media, posting photos and videos while with others.

Maintaining a balance 

Online social activist and missionary Sky Ortigas, simply said people will know they have been online too much if they ignore people they are physically with to post Facebook updates or to tweet.

Online missionary Sky Ortigas microblogged updates during the National Youth Day last year.

Ortigas, who confesses to being online nearly 8 hours a day because of her Blackberry phone, recalled a time when a friend she was having dinner with scolded her for posting “Godly” tweets, promptly forgetting he was there.

Jokingly, the blogger and web designer with an eye for detail said, sure-fire signs of too much online activity are “obesity, eyesight problems and losing friends.”

To maintain the balance Garganta mentioned, Ortigas advised people to avoid tweeting or generally being online when you are with others, texting or even taking calls if they are not important. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]