What are hobbies? When I hear that word I always picture an old man whittling a piece of wood on his front porch or some middle-aged man who collects ships in bottles. But obviously, those sorts of interests aren’t really relevant amongst people our age. So what are our hobbies? Watching television? Perusing social media? At the very least, these are just things that we enjoy doing usually on a daily basis, something that most if not all people our age do. Do they count as a pastime?

Let’s think about hobbies that are somewhat normal like sports or reading. Now those two sound like very different things, but they still fall under that category of something you do for pleasure in your free time. Certainly then, social media or television should count as well; they’re things we do for pleasure in our free time. But would any of us really consider those hobbies? Perhaps watching television. But going on social media? I wouldn’t consider that a hobby.

The difference I see between these things we do in our free time is a matter of active vs. passive. I am inclined to say watching television is a passive act, but one could argue against that. Is browsing social media passive? There are elements of interactivity, such as posting statuses or liking other peoples’ posts. But for the most part, don’t we simply just…scroll? And the act of liking something is so effortless we do it without thinking. In my own experience, I find the task of attending my social media accounts to be a mindless task. By the broadest definition, it is something that should be considered a hobby. So why don’t I? The difference to me is that is passive, whereas hobbies should be active.

By active, I don’t necessarily mean physical. Obviously reading is not a physical act. What I mean is something that is mentally stimulating, alongside potential physicality: reading invokes imagination, collecting ships in bottles involves time and a sense of organization or aesthetic, even television stimulates us visually and entertains (though I could probably argue that watching reality TV is more passive than active). This obviously, at least in my opinion, does not include using social media, which more often than not, can prove to be an inactive occurrence. While in theory and occasionally in practice we do use it actively, such as posting or responding to posts, we are browsing more than we are posting. So in my mind it’s more passive.

Is social media the only passive thing we do in our free time? Perhaps not, but it is certainly one that is more prevalent than other potential activities. I don’t mean to say that social media is a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s great, but there is an element of passivity there, something that is lacking from the other activities we perform in our free time. So maybe cut back a little on the Facebook and Twitter and do some whittling...or something.