As a millennial, I (and surely most of you reading this article), know how privileged we are in terms of technology and accessibility. We were fortunate enough to have been born in an era where, as kids, we could still play outside and interact with the real world, and as we matured into our teenage years, technology grew with us - unconsciously turning us into the tech-savvy young adults we are today. It all seems too good to be true when, with a few taps on a touchscreen, you can order almost anything right to your doorstep, from groceries to human skulls (do what you will with that information). Even though the convenience of being able to indulge in basically anything without actually leaving your house might seem like a game changer and helpful when you have a lot to do and very little time, within that convenience is where the problem lies. And its not just the digitalization of trivial, mundane tasks that have been corrupting our brains and shortening our attention spans - social media is perhaps the biggest factor in all of this and primarily the one to blame when it comes to the rapid influx of information and our diminished patience.
Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and even Pinterest have been referenced to as the "junk food of communication," where the habit of being constantly plugged in might seem like a good idea but will eventually have rather serious repercussions on our health. A recent study conducted by Microsoft Corp. has brought to light that the highly digitalized lifestyle that a lot of us live has lead us to lose our concentration after eight seconds when, before the digital revolution, our attention span was already a mere twelve seconds.
I acknowledge the fact that we are living in a time where things on the Internet happen in real time and the accessibility we have to share all that information is absolutely incredible, however we have essentially become victims of our own technological advances. Within the scope of those who have access to technology, there is not a single person within that pool who doesn't constantly check their mobile phones or refresh their Twitter feed either out of boredom or even habit. I myself am guilty of that, following a routine the most millennials know well enough - waking up and checking my phone first thing before I get out of bed and checking my phone last thing before I shove my face in a pillow and fall asleep at night; not to mention the numerous times I check the news and social media during the day.
We have become so cluttered with superfluous information that we're constantly linked to technology and the Internet in an attempt to scour though the news we find valuable and worthy of our time. We've become so immersed into our gadgets that we end up taking for granted the slew of information available to us and, consequently, most of us have forgotten what it means to actually care about something. Don't get me wrong, we're still able to pay attention to anything, but only for a small period of time, ultimately making us unable to focus on specifically one thing at a time.
At this point in time it's become virtually impossible to completely disconnect from our mobile phones and computers. Newer technologies are constantly being brought into the market, innovative ways to go about our lives are introduced to us at an exponential rate and convenience has become more valuable with each passing day. Internet accessibility is a double-edged sword because, at the same time it can connect two people from different sides of the world or allow someone to live-Tweet an issue and make it global within seconds, it is also slowly deteriorating our focus, grammar skills, sleeping habits and even our mental health.
However, the reason why our generation has been called the "140 character generation" is purely due to our brain's ability to adapt and change according to our immediate environment, which is not necessarily a good or a bad thing. Ultimately we're only addicted to technology because it's made everything so much simpler, from paying bills to walking around a different city, technology has your back. With technology we've been able to eliminate certain problems like not having the time to deposit a check at the bank, since now all you have to do is scan a barcode and you're done, thus turning a process that once took hours into a five minute task.
My mother always stood by the idea that you can basically "do anything, but in moderation" (with the exception of life threatening activities), and despite our generational gap, I have to admit she has never been more right about how I should handle my technology usage. At the same time that being constantly plugged in to our phones has induced negative side effects on our general health, it has also been immensely beneficial and has made so many things easier and increased our productivity.
Being constantly connected means that we might lose focus of what happens around us, but it keeps us up to date with issues all around the world and increases the brain's ability to multitask, not to mention that essentially any information we need can be found with a click of a mouse. At the end of the day it's not about just dropping technology all at once to become a hermit in the woods, but rather that we realize how immersed into it we've become and learn how to take a break from it and not allow it to control our lives.
But hey, if you got this far into reading this, congratulate yourself, turn off your phone and go outside - appreciate the fact that you still have control over you attention span and aren't limited to reading just 140 characters.
