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Don’t Unplug from the Web. Learn to Plug In Better.

The obvious solution to the distraction and shallow thinking that accompanies too much Internet is switching off. But that’s not a realistic option nowadays. Here’s how to plug in better.
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Too much Internet can be a bad thing. But completely unplugging is no longer realistic. So rather than cut yourself off for an arbitrary three days, or whatever length of time it may be, start plugging in better. Social media director Alexandra Samuel offers some tips: Unplug from distraction by giving your full attention to what is on your screen. The popular assumption that the “real world” is always more deserving of our attention is not necessarily true. Turn your phone off, close the curtains, do what you need to do online and then be done with it.

What’s the Big Idea?

If you think the Internet is some kind of disease, sorry, but it is incurable. By using the Internet well, however, we can fulfill the vision we have for ourselves. Samuel calls another strategy ‘Unplugging from disconnection’. Indeed, how strange that online social networks can us leave isolated. Instead, let’s use social media sites like Youtube to create common accounts within our families or between ourselves and our partner. Let’s not wish to escape the online world but to help shape it, making it a better place for us to be.

Photo credit: shutterstock.com

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