Can you recall the first thing people do in dinner dates these days? Usually it consists of ordering food, checking Facebook and uploading pictures to Instagram.
Our technology obsession has reached another level, and there is no denying it. Everywhere you go people are on their phones while eating, at the movies or at school.
People wait in lines at stores for hours even days when their favorite technology invention comes out into the market, and this happens several times in a person’s lifetime.
Society and technology these days go hand in hand, and this frenzy is making individuals, especially teenagers, addicted to materialist things and social media.
In July 2012, in the United States at least 235 million people use mobile devices, and of this average 114 million Americans used a smartphone, according to comScore.
People between the ages of 18-29 own an iPhone, Android or other type of smartphone, which makes 66 percent of the population a mobile device user, according to redOrbit.com.
Nearly half of the American population owns a smartphone: 46 percent of those are men, and 45 percent are women, according to redOrbit.com.
People from this generation don’t recall the times when we didn’t have Internet. How did things get done, especially for students? I don’t recall; do you?
How is technology and social media affecting students and their performance at school?
Things have indeed become a lot easier when it comes to research, homework, and even staying in touch with friends, but at what price?
According to ansolex.com approximately one out of every eight Americans experience signs of Internet addiction, and 7.5 percent of youth in America are addicted to the Internet.
Addiction is defined by Psychology Today as a condition that results when a person ingests a substance or engages in an activity that can be pleasurable but the continued use of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work or relationships, or health.
Signs of Internet or computer addictions according to helpguide.org are:
- Losing track of time online.
- Having trouble completing tasks at work or home.
- Isolation from family and friends.
- Feeling guilty or defensive about your Internet use.
- Feeling a sense of euphoria while involved in Internet activities.
Technology is not only becoming a necessity in everyday life, but it’s also becoming an addiction to people around the world.
Technology and Internet go hand in today, and students are exposed to this every single day whether it is for recreation or homework.
Reading a book for students has become merely impossible these days. Just look around you and notice how many people are using mobile devices, and how many are reading.
How can we stop this media frenzy, or at least control it so there is not abuse of it in society today?
We need to try and go back to the good old days of people sitting down on porches talking to their neighbors.
Those days where people actually spoke to each other face-to-face instead of sending text messages or using Facebook as a way to communicate how they feel.
Try to ask yourself what is going on when you can’t put your phone down at night and go sleep.
Devon Brown once said that “the people who invented the Internet never would have got around to doing it if they’d had the Internet.”
From the looks of society these days he was completely right.
Life nowadays feels like that show “The Walking Dead,” where people are wandering around with no purpose or direction, only focusing on their phone instead of the nature and beauty surrounding them.
I can’t think of a better time to live in, or a worse time for imagination where everything we do involves technology, not our brains.