Everywhere you go, you can see someone holding a tablet, smart phone, computer or any other technological device that has hit the market. The amount of smart devices out there now are staggering. Whether it is your regular computer to the new Apple Watch that is set to release next month, technology is everywhere.
There used to be a time where you could sit on a city bus or be waiting for a flight and talking to the person next to you in a casual conversation was enough. Instead of connecting with each other, it has become the norm to connect with a screen or a network. Nowadays, it is no longer about meaningful conversations, but the right filter, timing and followers one has on Instagram. And if it isn't that, no one focuses on actually having fun anymore when they go out with friends, but making it look like fun by posting videos and pictures on Snapchat to show people just how much of a good time they are having. People's faces and eyes are now glued to tiny lit up screens that seem to give people the world in their hand. Technology has brought society far with the invention of the computer, colored television and other infamous gadgets, but when is it enough?
In the United States alone, there are six billion text messages sent every day and, world-wide, 8.6 trillion sent a year. Almost everyone relies on their phone for communication, using their thumbs to type away their emotions, feelings, and plans for the day. Whereas, if you rewind only about ten years ago, phones were used to call people to set up playdates if you were a kid, or where to go for lunch to talk, not solely using a smart phone to communicate. With 80 percent of people owning smart phones, it is surprising that there still is any face to face communication at all. With all the apps that these phones offer, what use are friends, anyway. These phones can offer countless hours of entertainment, whether it is through games such as Doodle Jump or Twitter and Facebook, right there at the touch of your screen.
The most shocking part about technology is how it has spread down to the younger generations. In middle school, if you did not have a phone by the seventh grade it was almost like a form of social suicide. Now, 72 percent of kids that are eight, or even younger, have used a smart phone or a tablet to entertain themselves. For these young kids it is no longer about going around their neighborhood with their friends or the kids that live next door, it is about how many apps they have and what games they can play. There used to be a time when all one needed was a scooter or a bike, and children could be entertained for hours on end, having to have their parents beg them to come inside. Instead, children spend almost four hours in front of a TV, and another two hours in front of a computer screen. Even more shocking, two thirds of infants and toddlers have been recorded to watch almost two hours of TV a day. At this age, most children should be reading books or playing with toys, not staring at a bright screen.
With the rise in technology, humans have lost their ability to communicate with each other. It's all about how fast someone replies, and if they don't reply fast enough -- what does that mean? Maybe they were busy in the shower, with homework, hit by a car, lost their phone or their thumbs fell off. People have started to read too much into social media and technology, that they have lost sight of the real goal -- making honest connections with people based on conversations and memories. Everywhere you go, you can see someone walking on the sidewalk twiddling their thumbs away or with headphones in listening to music.
The appreciation for the world around us has taken a huge plunge in the last decade, leading to even staggering issues such as global warming and waste. It is time for people to put down technology and appreciate things for what they are, not how they seem to be through the millions of pixels.
