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For better or worse (often for worse) we are a digitally wired culture. Walk through any busy street and pedestrians (and often drivers) are relentlessly tapping on their screens as if their lives depended on it. I can’t even recount anymore how many times I have been out in public—in the halls of buildings on campus, at a zoo, walking through an exhibit at a museum, out to dinner—struck by how many people are staring at the screens on their digital gadgets rather than interacting or engaging with the people or objects around them.
Even the most vigilant among us can find themselves scrolling through their smart phones over the course of the day not necessarily because they have to do something online, but just because the habit has become so embedded in our daily rituals that we mindlessly seek out the stimulation from our gadgets. The perils of our constant connectivity have been well documented within the scientific literature, but in our mainstream culture, there is less discussion regarding what our saturation with digital media is doing to our brains, our consciousness, and more immediately, our social connections and personalities.
The New York Times did a compelling series some years ago entitled “Your Brain on Computers” which documented a host of problems associated with being constantly wired. Among them included the pressure to multi-task and the brain’s inability to effectively do so, the distractions and impairment of memory that comes with constant stimulation to digital feeds, and the deficits in social interactions and parenting when we are constantly connected to the digital world, among others (to access the articles in the series, go to: nytimes.com/your_brain_on_computers). Similarly, PBS/Frontline developed an equally compelling documentary spanning the globe looking at our relentless access to and use of technology with the release of “Digital Nation” (for access to the full video, go to: pbs.org/digitalnation).
How specifically, though, does the constant updates and streams from social media impact us, I began to wonder. Facebook, in particular, has become a cornerstone of social media and more generally many digital users’ online practices include visiting the site. For example, 7 out of 10 American adults going online are on Facebook (Olmstead & Barthel, 2015). Setting aside all the privacy concerns regarding users’ willingness to disclose aspects of their lives on this site (and that is a legitimate concern) what impact is the constant connectivity via this social networking site really having for users? For instance, in looking at “digital natives,” a term coined to refer to people born into a digital culture, one study reported that, “experts predicted that the impact of networked living on today’s young will drive them to thirst for instant gratification, settle for quick choices, and lack patience” (as reported by Wihbey, 2013, para 9). Not surprisingly, in an academic capacity, an additional study reported that, “using Facebook and texting while doing schoolwork were negatively predictive of overall GPA” (as reported by Wihbey, 2013, para 10).
The technology is changing so rapidly that even the social sciences cannot keep up with the research. As a user on Facebook, I have noticed that since acquiring a smart phone (I was very late to jumping on the iPhone bandwagon and still have significant problems with Apple’s business practices) I am on social media more frequently, even as a mindless activity where I scroll through feeds while engaging in some other task. I will even admit that after a yoga practice, one of the first behaviors I engage in after exiting the studio is to check my phone, despite the fact that the very point of this mindfulness practice is to stay connected with the present and digitally disconnect for the session.
So I have decided to go on a 30-day digital detox, at least as it pertains to use of Facebook, since this is a largely extraneous site online for me that isn’t connected with my professional life or necessary for my personal and social interactions. For as fellow PT blogger Dr. Aboujaoude (and author of the groundbreaking “Virtually You: the Dangerous Power of the E-Personality”) attests to, “it is hard to become, or remain moderate online; to find the middle ground and inhabit it” (Aboujaoude, 2016, para 1). Indeed, to sustain the attention of an ever-surfing online consumer, websites must “traffic in the extreme ends of the human experience” (Aboujaoude, 2016, para 1). So I am going to embark on an extreme exercise myself, and plug out of social media via Facebook for a month.
Stay tuned for a follow-up article tracking what transformations may come from digitally unplugging from this social media site. What better way to experience a rebirth as spring approaches than to unplug a bit from my online life and live fully and presently in the here and now?
Aboujaoude, E. (2016, March 6). The Impossible Life of the Online Moderate: Extremism and the internet. Psychology Today. Retrieved on March 31, 2016 from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/compulsive-acts/201603/the-impossible-life-the-online-moderate
Olmstead, K., & Barthel, M. (2015, March 26). The Challenges of using Facebook for Research. Factank: News in the Numbers, Pew Research Center. Retrieved on March 31, 2016 from: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/03/26/the-challenges-of-using-facebook-for-research/
Whibey, J. (2013, July 11). Multitasking, social media and distraction: Research review. Journalist’s Resource: Harvard Kennedy School. Retrieved on March 31, 2016 from: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/social-media/multitasking-social-media-distraction-what-does-research-say
Copyright Azadeh Aalai 2016
