A couple of days ago, I fell down the stairs in a dormitory and injured my knee. Injury is generally never great, especially now when I have to be in good shape for an upcoming dance performance. Quite frankly, I fell really badly and spent some time on the ground figuring out whether I broke my leg or not.
The worst thing is that I fell because I was texting. I was replying to a text that was not particularly urgent or even important, and I nonetheless could not resist an impulse to reach in my pocket and reply straight away.
I took a moment to analyze how my use of social media has impacted my life since the beginning of the semester. First, I am convinced that my vision has significantly decreased due to reading on my phone screen in the darkness before I go to bed. Secondly, my posture is not as good as it once was– looking down at the phone creates additional tension in my neck muscles. Third, it just injured my knee, damn it.
It’s not a secret that scrolling down the feed and non-stop texting changed our social interactions. Looking locally, SLU campus in particular, there have been multiple times where I would be surprised to walk in a room and discover that it is full of people, which would not be obvious from the hallway because it is dead silent.
Everyone is texting or scrolling down their feeds. I did some basic research, and I invite you to Google something similar to “Why are we addicted to phones” or “Cellphone addiction” and find for yourself how real it is and how it is rewiring your brain and affects your motivation/studying/sleeping/socializing patterns.
Here is a quick Smartphone Compulsiveness Assessment for you: 1) Do you panic when you misplace your phone? 2) Are you on your phone during social situations or in the presence of family? 3) Do you carry your smartphone everywhere, even to the bathroom? 4) Do you go to sleep and wake up looking at your phone? If your answer is “yes” to all of these questions, you are most likely “hooked.”
People don’t talk to each other as much anymore. They also don’t ask questions and don’t look for answers. Laughing at memes and funny videos has become dominant activity between close friends and couples.
Social gatherings and birthday dinners are made up of either scrolling through the feed, actively making a post, or having accomplished making a post and waiting on likes/views. It seems like there is a certain “bio clock” on when to check the phone – a couple of times within 10 minutes, and this is regardless whether you are with your friends, in class, watching a movie or running on a treadmill.
As a conclusion, we are in trouble, folks. Addiction of any kind is not good, and I think we need a smartphone detox from time to time. This has the potential to improve your relationships, mental and physical health, and allow you to discover new hobbies or just let your mind rest for a second.
Due to such a large intake of information, our brains are becoming less sharp at recalling information and generating new ideas, because we only train the brain to receive or to just observe, not analyze, information.
After all, it is better to look up at friends while you’re passing by them and say “hi” thaen to stare at your smartphone while walking, or else fall and injure yourself.
Stay safe and healthy, friends.