In 2016, it is sometimes hard to imagine a world without technology. As technology is growing and changing every day, so is today’s society as it is parallel to technology in this generation. Although most of us can think back to a time before the highest end of technology, there will soon be a generation who cannot. Today’s society is not only growing with technology, but growing up with it.
According to TechSmart.com, 2.6 billion people are smartphone subscribers globally. The site states that at this rate, there will be 6.1 billion smartphone users by 2020. In a world with over 7 billion people currently, this is an outrageous number, especially when taking into consideration the age range that this includes.
Previous to recent skyrocketing numbers, most young children as well as elderly people were not normally included in the smartphone number, but this can not be accurately stated anymore as the age range grows more and more each year.
Technology itself is amazing. We live in a time where education is at its highest point and information on just about anything can be found in seconds. What isn’t so amazing is our addiction to this technology. Most people could not put down their phones for a single day if they had to.
Recently I decided enough was enough. I was fed up with the things I was reading on my various social media accounts and decided to delete all of them. I deleted six different social media apps, making my phone look equivalent to a brand new phone without any additives.
At first, it was great. I was proud of myself for making it a full day without caving and redownloading any of the apps. By day two though, I started to unlock my phone with intentions to subconsciously click on the apps and would be confused for a second when they weren’t there.
By day three, I redownloaded a few of the apps just to post about a concert I went to when I realized how stupid that was. Why did all of my followers need to see where I was and what I was doing at all times? Yes, I was excited about the concert but I was there with some of my best friends and I told the rest of them all about it afterward, so why did I need to post about it?
During my very short social media detox, I began to realize how much I really do miss out on when my face is in my phone. Without it, I noticed and enjoyed the weather more. I found myself pretending to look at my phone in awkward situations at first before realizing that was the only reason the situations were awkward and that it is much more enjoyable to have a real life conversation with someone new for once.
I learned that we live in a culture that really can’t be stopped when it comes to its social media craze, but despite previous thoughts, I can stop myself. It is refreshing to remember a time where people actually went out to dinner and spoke to each other face to face rather than over the Internet.
So moral of the story, put your phone down (or delete your apps if you’re like me and have no willpower) for even just a day and enjoy what the real world has to offer.
