--- description: Spoken word short film urges people to take a break from social media. title: WATCH: Spoken Word Video about How Social Media Ruins Lives Goes Viral Thanks to Social Media image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ca3f73f368e11d/69868de3cd804df058ccab12/internet.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Video About Social Media Ruining Our Lives Goes Viral Thanks to Social Media  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 5, 2014 7:08 PM CUT  Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 5, 2014 7:08 PM CUT [_Look Up_, a short film](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY "undefined") about how social media is making people less social by London writer Gary Turk, has been taking the Internet by storm since it was uploaded to YouTube on April 25, racking up more than 13.6 million views. However, there is something ironic about watching a video about the pitfalls of social networks on a social network, not to mention the fact that a social network is responsible for making this video as popular as it is. [If everyone just logged off at the same time,](http://www.sabbathmanifesto.org/unplug/ "undefined") that would probably be more effective. **WATCH:** [Viral Video Urges Us To Take a Hard Look at Our Phone Addictions](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/09/08/viral-video-urges-us-to-take-a-hard-look-at-our-phone-addictions/ "undefined") **MORE:** [This Is Your Brain on Facebook](http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/31/this-is-your-brain-on-facebook/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/88203/look-up-social-media-gary-turk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/88203/look-up-social-media-gary-turk/"},"headline":"Video About Social Media Ruining Our Lives Goes Viral Thanks to Social Media","datePublished":"2014-05-05T19:08:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:25.393Z","description":"Everything in moderation, people","url":"https://time.com/88203/look-up-social-media-gary-turk/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ca3f73f368e11d/69868de3cd804df058ccab12/internet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ca3f73f368e11d/69868de3cd804df058ccab12/internet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"internet","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/88203/look-up-social-media-gary-turk/","name":"Video About Social Media Ruining Our Lives Goes Viral Thanks to Social Media"}}]}] ```