Wake up, check my iPhone, take a piss, brush my teeth, hit the shower and I’m off. The day has begun. Wait a minute. What’s off about that morning ritual? If your childhood was loosely based upon the characters in Richie Rich, Free Willy, Liar Liar, and Dunston Checks In, then you probably think: nothing. But to anyone born before this (quite wonderful) time period, it is quite disturbing to witness somebody check his messages on the iPhone before tending to mandatory hygienic matters.
That’s right. Our generation is ‘tech-obsessed’. And not afraid to admit so. Walk into a restaurant. How many people are checking Facebook or Twitter on their smartphones as opposed to partaking in a potentially engaging conversation with their fellow meal-goers? 75%? More? Enter a classroom. How many students are social networking instead of listening to what is going on in class? 95%? 100%? Walk into your little sister’s room. What are the chances she’s coloring, puzzling, or dressing up a doll?
Okay. You get it. This is hardly a revelation. This is the way this new world functions. Plain and simple. The real question is: is this a bad thing? Depends. Take a look at a hospital waiting room, for instance. Here, you’ve got folks with people they care about who are in some form of danger. Maybe a mother is waiting for her daughter to emerge from an allergic reaction treatment. Maybe a friend is worried about another, who just cut his hand open on a beer bottle cap. Whatever the situation is, they’re all on their smartphones because it is an escape from reality. It is a way to tuck the present under the sheets and uncover an alternative universe that is more sexy and entertaining than your own.
The hospital situation is not exclusive, obviously. Reverting to our technology to avoid a stressful or anxious environment applies to those on dates, at the office, in the gym, on the plane…you name it. In these instances, checking Twitter is perhaps the best way to quell the fears of your current state of panic.
We resort to technology to bury anxiety, and in this light, it is extremely affective. But we use it for many other functions that are seemingly less productive, as well. Matter of fact, it can be argued that we use it in ways that are extremely counter-productive to the healthy growth of society as a whole. Take technology’s impact on relationships, for starters. Of all your somewhat recent companions, what percentage of them can you say were brought to your liking from Facebook? How much of your last relationship was based on texting (honestly)? How many people do you know that seem to behave completely differently in person than digitally?
Okay. You get it. But back to the original question: is this a bad thing? So what if my friendship with my 6 closest friends is confined to our BBM group? What is the big deal if I just send out this tweet about my plans for tonight so that my followers can see how cool I am?
We are living in a digital age. Texting is the new talking. Surely there is a study out there that proves that the iPhone’s capabilities are more powerful than the entire last generation’s. But is this a sustainable way of living? It is interesting to think about whether or not a relationship can be built upon the shaky rods of digital interaction and drunk texting as opposed to genuine and in-person affection. Facebook and Twitter say: of course they can.
-DLM
