[Guest Blog] Can Social Media Ever Be Zen?

This is a Guest Blog written by Sinead Mac Manus of 8fold, a digital well-being company about her event, Tea and the Zen of Social Media.

In our modern world full of laptops, iPhones and wifi, we are never far from the connected world. As social human beings we naturally seek out the company of others, and the rise of social media reflects our craving to connect.

But in our increasingly connected world, do we need some downtime from our machines? And if so, how can we create distance from our connected lives without being disconnected from its benefits.

It is this question and others that I will be posing to a panel of social media and digital entrepreneurs and the audience for an interactive discussion at The Hub Islington on Monday 7th February. Entitled Tea and the Zen of Social Media, the lunchtime event will discuss if we can be both mindful and connected, reaping the benefits of the social web without the burnout.

In my opinion, it’s possible. When working with clients, I find the benefits of engaging with the social web far outweigh any negative effects in terms of time and digital overload, especially if we can engage with these technologies in a Zen and mindful way. By applying the Zen principles of Kanso and Koko (simplicity and austerity) to our social media use, we remind ourselves that we don’t have to spread ourselves thinly across 10 social networks when one focused network might be enough, or that we can use the right digital tools to get our message across easily rather than struggle with ineffective ones.

In Hamlet’s Blackberry, William Powers uses the story of one of Plato’s most famous dialogues between his teacher, the Greek philosopher Socrates and a young man Phaedrus, to illustrate the importance of occasionally unplugging from the crowd. In Plato’s time, getting away from the crowd meant taking a walk outside the city walls; today, it is about finding ways to incorporate spaces for focus in our day.

And that is something we can all use more of.

I hope you will join me and my panel for an enlightening discussion over tea. You can register for your place here.

Visit the 8fold website and my blog From Apps to Zen for more information about digital well-being. You can also follow me on Twitter @sineadmacmanus

Photo (cc) pittaya