I thought if anybody in the world didn't have the same addiction that everyone else has to facebook and email it would be me. On one point, I'm absolutely correct. Before this assignment had been given out, I hadn't been on facebook for a couple of days, and even now as I'm writing this, I still haven't been on facebook. I've never been addicted to facebook and don't find it hard to avoid getting on every day. I only keep it around as a networking tool and resource for information when needed. Facebook isn't a problem. I thought the same would be true of email. Boy was I wrong. Every time I got on the computer throughout the day, I found myself immediately typing the 'g' for gmail before I realized what I was doing. I successfully checked my email only twice, but had to forcefully catch and remind myself not to many times throughout the day.
Texting was even more difficult for me to avoid. My wife works all day when I'm at school, so I always text her from time to time to see how she's doing. Multiple times I had completely finished a text when I realized (just before pushing send) what I was doing. I never texted, but realized just how subconscious my actions are with the media I consume. This was a very eye-opening experience.
As a result of my fast, I determined that all digital natives are at least mildly addicted to some form of communication technology. I posted this conclusion to my facebook status, accusing everyone of being addicted in one way or another. I received four responses completely agreeing with me! Many said that they agreed that facebook and texting are ruining their interpersonal skills--one girl going as far as saying she would be physically afraid of how to live her life without these tools. Others just mentioned how sad they were that they had become addicted.
This is a serious problem among young adults of my generation. It's affecting us in more ways than we realize. We all need to "media fast" from time to time to bring us back into reality. I can't wait for the day when digital natives anonymous is really created. Sign me up!
2 comments:
I like that you admit to being addicted to using not only one means of media but a few. I think that it is true, now a days its almost impossible to not use facebook or text people. I would have to say that those are the two most relied on ways of communication amongst this generation.
i hope your wife knew about your texting fast. i love receiving little texts from my husband throughout the day. if i didn't i would think something was either wrong, or most likely he was just busy. but i know i would be a little sad because i like knowing he's thinking of me.
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