One of my friends has tweeted over 20k times since he joined Twitter in June 2007. While I admire him for being an early adopter, I have to ask, when does he have time to do anything else?  Like wee, or feed himself?

Oh ok, I’m not perfect. I check my Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Viber and Gmail before I get out of bed in the morning. But lately as I’ve wavered towards Linked In and Pinterest, I’ve wondered: is social media taking over our lives?

Let’s look at the evidence:

1. While writing this blog post I have popped onto Faffbook approximately 17 times to check whether any more ‘friends’ have had dinners or babies. (At last count babies were still outnumbering dinners 3-1.)

2. My friends and I have taken to using ‘hash tag’ in our every day speech. “Yes I’d love a cup of tea, hash tag thought you’d never ask!”

3. Rather than feeling the wonder of recent experiences (a sunrise, a jumping fox, a hot young man), I’m instantly thinking of how to report it in a pithy 140-character status update.

It’s not looking good.

‘Labelling and reporting’ is definitely replacing ‘experiencing and feeling’, and this worries me. In a world where it seems every other child has ADHD, we’re not doing much to discipline our own attention spans.

In fact, people find it so hard to be present for a couple of minutes without looking at their phone that theatres and cinemas have responded by setting up ‘tweet seats’ so people can broadcast their fascinating critiques in real time:

“Russell Crowe’s gruesome death only just makes up for his gruesome singing. Lol! #lesmis“

It’s kind of obvious why we do it: we need to feel validated. It’s like getting confirmation that we’re a) being heard and b) not alone. But surely at the price of properly experiencing what is happening right in front of us, right in that moment.

I find this a bit sad about us modern humans. We’re getting further away from being in the now. Which means busier minds, more distraction, and less meaningful interactions with other modern humans.

So what is the answer?

Like all good addictions, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Next step: cut down. (This isn’t AA, we don’t need to go cold turkey.)

One addicted friend has had his smartphone put on curfew by his long-suffering wife. 10pm, it’s lights out. Brutal, but effective.

It’s all about moderation. We know what we should do: turn off notifications, only check feeds once a day, leave your phone in your bag… Yada yada yada. It all makes sense, but it all requires discipline. And it seems discipline is what’s really missing here.

I guess like meditation, we can’t all be Yoda in one sitting. Time and practice, these things take.

So this weekend I took a 48-hour time-out. I was allowed to check texts and Whatsapps (one step at a time, right?), but I didn’t engage with Facebook or Twitter.

It was liberating.

OK, so the newfound restraint fizzled out by Monday lunchtime, but while it lasted, it felt really good. Like I’d got some control back in my life.

Now I just need to keep doing it. Small bursts. Big results.

Ah, Mr 20K Tweets has just revealed he’s had spag bol for tea. Phew. That’s part of my question answered. Now I think I’ll pick up the phone and call him for a meaningful interaction about his bladder functions. Some things are too important to leave to social media.