Social media has taken the world by storm. People wake up in the middle of the night to check in. Get up before work to see what happened. Check their page during work to see what they missed. Recheck constantly at the dinner table or just eat in their room all the while scanning the cell phone.
Phone attraction is an all day addiction that is fed by fingers and thumbs worldwide. We travel with a power cord for AC/DC hookup, we have solar powered chargers, movement operated chargers, etc. The phone is never turned off and we take it everywhere we go because it contains our contact lists, memos, photos, GPS, banking/credit info and even a few “choice” photos that we keep just for that special someone.
We pay extravagant amounts for the latest technology along with the extra monthly bill that keep on going and growing. We pay the price, no questions asked, as we complain about the cost of food, gas, and education. We pay for added data and cloud space gladly, and then complain about the cost of daycare, and diapers and formula.
We check into FB, TWIT, and INSTA and lose track of the time, yet complain about waiting in line to pay for groceries, see the doctor, and waiting for the traffic light to turn green (while we check our text messages). If we stop and think for just a moment, we will clearly see that the social network is in all actuality the “anti” social network.
I, myself, just completed a 2 week “technology fast”. No computer use or cell phone use and found it to be liberating. I had took the opportunity to connect face to face with people I usually call. I used pen and paper to write notes and letters to people who mean a lot to me (snail mail) and helped the postal services budget 🙂 and I did not have to decipher and text abbreviations and codes. My eyes feel better, and I definitely feel more energetic and alive since I am not being mentally and physically drained by the electronics in my home.
Today, I am back with self-imposed limits for using my personal technology devices (ptd). So I hope that more people will take the time to unplug from social media and PLUG into actual face-to-face time more often.