It is necessary to limit the use of digital devices

A habits survey of the social media users carried out by the Institute of Communication Studies showed that about 40% of the population spends between 1 – 3 hours online on those media.

The “Do we need a media diet?” discussion identified that young people spend too much time on the social media and that it is necessary to react timely if we notice reduction in social skills, feeling of being in a comfort zone in the online world and hyper-connectivity.

“Young people do group, which is typical for age, but everyone holds their phone in their hand and everyone ‘scrolls’ to see what is happening. There is also very little eye contact and very little direct communication”, said Ana Poprizova, a school pedagogue.

Ramize Ramadani, a student at the medical high school “Gostivar” says that young people consciously or unconsciously spend the whole day on the phone or in front of a computer and that they are forgetting about real life and what is happening around them.

D-r. Vaska Mitova, a psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Clinic is advising to reach an agreement at home and at home on limited use of the phones.

Stefan Mitic, who participated in a social experiment conducted by the Institute for Communication Studies and spent one day without social networks, telephone, computer, television and radio, spoke about the benefits of the digital detoxification. He says that this day helped him to connect more with his family, but also to react immediately to what is happening around him, instead of having a delayed reaction like the one through online communication.

Expert analyses and institutional monitoring of this issue are necessary in order to be able to properly prevent it and timely react before it is too late.

The “Do we need a media diet?” discussion was organized by the Institute for Communication Studies in as part of the Fake News Week within the “News and Digital Literacy Project: Where Fake News Fails” project funded by the European Union.

Through this debate, but also with other events and educational resources and events, the Institute for Communication Studies, together with the project partners – the Macedonian Institute for Media, the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers and the Media Diversity Institute from London, joins the Media Literacy Network initiative “Media Literacy Days 2020”.