So this article may convince you to take a day off from We Earth every now and then, a dangerous proposition that probably won’t do me any good, but I’ll take my chances.
Internet addicts are committing to “Unplug Days,” where they shut off the computer, don’t talk on instant messenger, don’t blog, and don’t answer emails, in hopes to try and reconnect with the real world again. It’s even becoming some people’s New Year’s resolutions. Ariel Meadow Stallings, a marketing manager for Microsoft, made a pledge to spend “52 Nights Unplugged” this year.
People like Stallings are beginning to realize their addiction, and attachment to the cyber world, while at the same time admit their disconnect with reality. “I think there is some common-sense part of us that says, ‘Wait a second. This has gone too far. We are too plugged-in,” says Sharon Sarmiento, who admits to blogging and hearing instant message sounds in her dreams.
It’s gotten to the point where I, myself, will go to bed, wondering what email I’ll receive the next morning, just waiting to check my blackberry for anything life changing. Of course, it’s never something that couldn’t have waited, but the instant gratification factor is too easy to fulfill with just the click of a button. When I’m not at work, I must say it’s rare to have my instant messenger turned off, anticipating when a good friend or family member will sign on so I can immerse myself in procrastination.
The real problem with a cyber space addiction is the dislocation it allows from the world outside. Promoting a false sense of communication where one can edit before you respond, and leave out inappropriate spur of the moment thoughts, the internet encloses us in our own little bubbles, which can be dangerous considering other technology, like television, has already been a problem for years.
The Internet has amazing capabilities to connect us, but shouldn’t there be personal limits we set for ourselves? After all, staring at a bright screen for hours on end is hardly communicating. Dr. Dave Greenfield is no stranger to this worry. As the head of the Center for Internet Behavior in Connecticut, he claims people thought he was joking when he began warning the public of virtual addiction back in 1999. A study he conducted estimates 1 out of 10 Americans use technology in a way that will “negatively impact their lives.” He doesn’t have much hope in the unplugged theory, sadly, treating technology junkies just like any kind of addict. It takes them a long time to process the problem.
People like Stallings and Sarmiento are committing to “unplugged day” or what some call a “secular Sabbath.” It’s not that they don’t appreciate computers and what they’re good for, they’ve just realized a line needs to be drawn at some point. “ I love technology, I’m not a Luddite. But I realized it was a problem when I would sit down to check my email and…[I’d] wake up six hours later and find I was watching videos of puppies on YouTube,” admitted Stallings.
She associated that kind of time loss to when she has black outs from being drunk. Now she unplugs for weekends at a time. Maybe this “unplugged” concept will catch on, and there will be a national day of the year for it, like Earth Day. Better yet, a worldwide movement could start those interested on a one day a week diet from the urges of technology. Besides, there’s plenty of other stuff to do…isn’t there?
