Social Media Didn’t Distract Us. It Normalized Distraction

As a father of two teenage boys (17 and 13), I see the impact of social media up close — not as a theory, but as a daily reality.

You don’t even need to look far to notice it. Stand on a train platform, look around for a minute, and at least 70% of the people are staring at their phones. Heads down, disconnected from the moment they are physically in. And the younger the crowd, the more dominant it becomes.

Influencers themselves aren’t new. They’ve always existed — only the form has changed. In the past, people became influential through achievements, performances, or expertise. Yesterday I watched a documentary about Tony Hawk. He was an influencer long before the word existed, purely because of what he achieved. Articles, magazines, videos — influence followed performance.

Today, influence often exists without that foundation. You are an influencer because you are an influencer.

If I had to guess, I’d say at least 50% of online time is spent on social media — and for young people, it’s probably much more. That’s where the real challenge lies. Teenagers are constantly flooded with content. Modern platforms have their algorithms perfected: every swipe feeds the next distraction. Short content, videos, memes — endless and optimized to keep attention locked in.

The dangerous part? They don’t experience this as distraction. To them, it feels normal. This is just how life works now.

That becomes especially visible when studying enters the picture. School platforms, digital homework, communication with teachers — everything happens on the same device that hosts the distractions. Studying is no longer pen and paper. The temptation is always one tap away.

I’m not against social media. Just like I’m not against AI. But tools need context, balance, and intention. Without that, they stop serving us and start steering us.

And yes — I’m not innocent either.

Right now, there’s a small heating room in my house that desperately needs cleaning. It has needed cleaning for weeks. I even took a photo of it, intending to finally get it done. But instead of doing that, I spent my time analyzing Hive. Trying to understand its dynamics. Looking at payouts, curator behavior, post structures. Asking myself — again — how to finally land that elusive $10+ post.

And yes, Hive is social media.

The difference is that this kind of distraction feels productive. I’m analyzing, questioning myself, writing queries, comparing authors and posts, trying to understand what works and what doesn’t. It’s not mind-killing — it’s actually enjoyable. Much more enjoyable than cleaning that heating room.

But enjoyment doesn’t change the core fact: it’s still avoidance.

Maybe the real issue isn’t that social media distracts us. Maybe it’s that distraction has quietly become the default — especially for a generation that never knew anything else.

The question then isn’t whether social media blinds us to what matters, but whether we still remember how — and when — to look away.