What is technology doing to our brains? Honestly, not even technology in general, but handheld tech like iPhones and smart watches. They are constantly attached to us and truly our brains and bodies seem more and more one with our devices every day. I know that struggle to put down my phone at times. Yet, when I don't have it, I don't miss it all.
I have been using computers for a long time. I was probably about 4 or 5 the first time I really remember playing a game on the computer--some floppy disk versions of Win, Lose, or Draw, a Bugs Bunny game, and a Sesame Street letter game are the activities that come to mind. I was in late elementary school the first time I used the internet at home, and even before that, I remember being amazed when I participated in Take Your Daughter to Work Day and I was able to write an email to Bill Clinton (that he would really respond to!). I remember in middle school, it became a requirement that all papers needed to be typed and in high school, we learned to research on the internet. I can vividly remember my high school geography teacher suggesting we use Google, as it was the best search engine. In my free time, I would IM (instant message) my friends. In college, AIM was the main method of communication--that and Facebook. Even now, almost 15 years later, I still use Facebook daily. In addition to that, I surf several other social media sites.
Social media. Therein lies the real problem. Social media is not a bad thing, BUT the problem is it pulls you in over and over, into things that don't really matter in your day to day life. However, it ends up taking up so much of my time. On one hand, I think to myself, this is so stupid, just get off social media altogether. And, really, I would probably be happier overall. Then practicality sets in. I run the social media account for Matt's business. I'm in support groups on Facebook that make me feel, well, supported--through pregnancy, childrearing, and whatever stage of life or transition I'm going through. Plus, of course I love to keep up with friends and see pictures of all the new babies and adventures they're having. I can think of a million reasons (excuses) to keep my social media accounts, but I know that even though there are definite good things about social media, deep down I know that they do more harm than good.
One thing that really bothers me is the lack of content creating. I mean, there are very few people who mostly create content on the internet and the majority of us are most often consuming media. This does several things. One, it stunts creativity because our own creativity is never being exercised. Two, it leads you to fall into a trap of taking certain people's word as gold or maybe just more elevated than other voices because you are constantly seeing information curated by and created by them. Three, you tend to really fall into group ideas or groupthink, because you believe that everyone feels the way of a tiny group of people. I do feel better when I actually create content, but then that does lead to another issue.
When you create content, it should be meaningful. It should have purpose and you should really stand behind what you are putting out into the world. When you write a book or make a painting or play a song, you do it with purpose. You are making art that you care about most of the time. With social media, you may somewhat care and have a fairly clear reason behind what you're posting, but in the back of your mind, you want approval from others. Businesses want the approval to get the customers to make the money for their companies. Individuals crave the approval of others through social media because at this time in our lives, many of us spend most of our time online and, consequently, the majority of our friends are online. If we created art or a journalistic work in real life, of course it feels good to get feedback and maybe you will. You may get a few people who tell you that your work is great or that it inspired them or left them feeling a certain way. However, how often does that happen? And do we assume everyone must not approve simply because they don't say it out loud? Of course not. We assume either they didn't see it, it wasn't for them, or they just don't feel comfortable expressing how they feel. Why is it so different online? I think there are a few reasons, one of which being the expectation of instant gratification--we get annoyed when "too few" people like our photos or comment on our statuses. Conversely, we get a bit of thrill and excitement with every new notification. Someone likes me, they really like me!
This year has been extremely hard. The virus has been so difficult to deal with, so exhausting to think about day in and day out. This has driven meany of us to be on our phones, computers, and other devices way too much. We are working from home and socializing from home and it's just hard.Yet, where do when turn at the end of the day? Back to the devices to decompress.
I'm not suggesting any type of solution here, just bringing up something that has been on my mind a lot lately and I needed to get it written down before the thought flew out of my brain. Let's make the most of the time we have, try to get out and get up, stretch, take a walk, and smell the flowers. And don't worry, the internet will be back when you're ready. You won't have missed much, I can guarantee it.
