Social media kills boredom, but creativity too

While boredom doesn't sound like an opportunity to many, a new study says that pandemic and the solitude that came with it gave people a chance to be more creative and useful

Nobody these days, with access to smartphones and social media accounts, is ever alone or bored. A sense of boredom and out comes the gadget to kill it with memes, chats, viral videos and endless notifications. However, a recent study says that social media doesn't just kill boredom, it kills creativity too.

A new study of the Covid pandemic claims that people who resort to social media as a solution to their superfluous boredom are shutting the possibility of creativity and more meaningful activity. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Bath School of Management, England and Trinity College, Dublin and the findings were released recently.

What does the study say

Researchers said that the pandemic gave people a chance to 'feel bored'. While boredom doesn't sound like an opportunity to many, the researchers say that pandemic and the solitude that came with it provided people with a chance to experience two levels of boredom - superficial and profound.

While superficial freedom is the most common form of boredom and is experienced by almost everyone as a sense of restlessness, profound boredom is the next stage of boredom which holds the key to betterment.

The study says that people don't let themselves reach this profound state because as soon as the superficial boredom hits them, social media becomes the answer. Profound boredom kicks in once an individual has spent an abundance of uninterrupted time in solitude, and paves the way to more creative thinking and activity.

"This research has given us a window to understand how the 'always-on' 24/7 culture and devices that promise and abundance of information and entertainment may be fixing our superficial boredom but ae actually preventing us from finding more meaningful things," Dr Timothy Hill, co-author of the study, said. He also said that those who opt for digital detoxes may well be on the right path.

Boredom not a bad word!

The study said that while we often treat boredom as something absolutely negative and a big no, in reality it isn't really a bad word and can lead to a lot of positivity, especially in the wake of the pandemic that hit the world. "Profound boredom may sound like an overwhelmingly negative concept but, in fact, it can be intensely positive if people are given the chance for undistracted thinking and development. We must recognise that the pandemic was a tragic, destructive, consuming experience for thousands of less fortunate people, but we are all familiar with the stories of those in lockdown who found new hobbies, careers or directions in life," Dr Hill said.

What the findings reveal

Participants readily described being bored at home during lockdown and talked about how their days were mostly spent completing routine, household chores and remote working and studying.

One of the participants of the study Jenny talked about the monotony of this routine.

"Lockdown was definitely boring. Every day was the exact same. I honestly think I was losing myself there for a while. I felt like I was in a constant state of nothing to do - no nights out, no one to see in person - and honestly, it was awful... Boredom sent me towards filling my spare time with social media, silly reality TV and aimless distractions to pass the time."

Another participant Paul confessed being addicted to social media even while he knew how futile it was. He said, "I filled time by doom-scrolling, on Twitter especially. It was addictive at that time, but a waste of time, I know it, I know... I know it is time wasted, some days I was on social media for 7 hours in total - I could definitely do something more useful, meaningful, whatever - but it did pass the time."

Meanwhile, there were some participants who did reach a state of profound boredom and pursued new passions such as baking, cycling and carpentry. These participants, once they shunned social media, had a harrowing period of restlessness and emptiness but it soon gave way to better and more creative activities.

Concept of profound boredom

This concept of profound boredom was identified first by German philosopher Martin Heidegger. According to him, superficial tedium is the most common state of boredom. It can be experienced while waiting for a train or standing in a long queue. In such moments, people generally distract themselves with social media, click-bait articles, or cute cat videos.

Heidegger said that with profound boredom, one can see the world anew, question what makes life meaningful to us, and connect these interests to a meaningful past, present and future.