In a span of just fifteen minutes, I witnessed over one hundred people on their cell phones around campus. Gossiping on Facebook, making phone calls, listening to music, or whatever digital activity these people were partaking in. I call it “drowning out reality”. Our society has placed so much emphasis on leading an Internet driven lifestyle that we believe that we need to be “connected” to each other all day, every day.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are huge culprits behind the “not-so-social media” movement. People will mindlessly put all of their personal information on these sites, which can be dangerous if the wrong person gets ahold of pieces of information, such as phone numbers, addresses, or other personal information. At one point, a person could use the Facebook Messenger application to view the location of a message’s sender. I managed to freak out one of my friends by reciting his exact location based off the information that was easily available. Scary, right? Make sure you have your location services turned off for applications that don’t need it, because it could save you from someone who isn't there to joke around.
Encouraging the digital obsession, companies such as Apple and Samsung have promoted the idea that we need “better and more upgraded” phones every year, which is ridiculous. Think about it like this: would you go buy a new TV every year? What about a new microwave every four months? A mattress every six months? If you’re buying a new phone every year, there’s no way that it’s a great quality device, because why would they need to release a brand new phone less than a year later if they are originally quality made? Also, if you can afford to buy those things on a regular basis, then maybe I need to make you my new best friend, Money Bags! On a serious note, it’s only perpetuating a society of people who spend their money on a product that should already be designed with the “best innovations in technology”. Electronics consumerism at its finest.
A lot of us are guilty of the digital addiction, whether it’s texting at the dinner table, indulging in the latest Vine videos for hours instead of doing homework, or “Snapchatting” how bored we are during a class lecture. All of those things are fine in moderation, but don’t let a cell phone control your life. Go outside and enjoy nature, learn how to play an instrument, or try meeting somebody new by talking to them instead of blankly staring at your phone. Just don’t sit on your ass all day thinking that posting cat memes on your Facebook counts as a social life, because it just doesn’t.
If you’re not sure if you’re addicted to the Internet, try taking a break from a social media for 1-2 days. If you can’t resist and have the strong urge to constantly check up on those 100+ friend requests that you’ve been getting, or decide that all of your peers need to know you ordered your first Pumpkin spice latte of the fall, you might be obsessed with your digital devices. One thing that helps me is by leaving my phone in my car while I’m at school. This eliminates the need to constantly check your phone every five minutes. Also try placing your device in a pocket or bag that’s not easily accessible. If you want to go the more extreme route, put your phone in a box, place the box under your car tires (front or back, it doesn’t matter), run it over at least three to four times, heat it up over a fire for a few minutes, let it cool off and then take it out of the box. Congratulations, you won’t have a phone anymore! You are now free to do whatever your heart desires—except for anything involving a phone, that is.
