Put Down Your Phone
Get off your phones. Put it down, turn it off, hide it under your bed, just get it out of your sight. Smartphones have become a crutch that society cannot live without. Try it, not using your phones for an hour. Research has shown that the effects of not using your phone for a long period of time has the same effects on the brain as withdrawal from drug use. Research done on a group of people, where they were isolated for 2 weeks and had their phones taken away was conducted a few years ago. And after getting their phones back after two weeks without their phones, they claimed it felt wrong using a phone, like it took away their connection to nature and their surroundings. Smartphones do have their advantages, I mean, what’s the comparison between sleep or all the information in the world, right at the tap of your screen? A hard choice to make I know, probably a comparison that never crossed your mind as you were scrolling through Instagram and Twitter, liking pictures of people that make them seem like they are living their best life.
Have you ever been to a concert? Notice how everyone is there recording the artist with their phones but no one is actually looking at them with their own eyes? That is the death of living in the moment. Pictures like these just make me sad. It has become so bad that some artists such as Adele have to tell the crowd to put their phones down and enjoy the moment. Corey Taylor, the lead singer of Slipknot, once took a persons phone and threw away during a concert as he became frustrated. Phones are basically an extension of us at this point. Wherever you go, you are bound to see people looking at their phones and no one living in the moment. Beside that, you always see the older generation talking about how all the young kids that are always on their phones. Turns out that the older generation is the one that uses smartphones more. A study showed that people above the age of 35 use their phones more than people younger than 35 years old.
A comedian named Bo Burnham, who became famous by making videos through an internet medium, Youtube, has grown to despise the fact that he gained recognition through Youtube. He says that society now has a performer-audience relationship. Think about it, you watching people do their every day activities through a screen like you are watching TV, you posting about how hungry you are or what food you ate in the morning. Do people really care about that stuff? Probably not. He also says that due to smartphones and social media, the need to hone a craft has gone. Before smartphones, people got their daily dose of dopamine by actually working hard in trying to perfect a craft or learn a new thing such as mastering the guitar or fixing a car. Now, all you have to do is post a picture on Instagram and hope for more than 50 likes to get your dopamine rush. Bo Burnham wanted to highlight this problem which was why he made a movie titled ‘8th grade’ which showed the problems that the younger generation that was born with this technology are facing every day.
Have you ever tried talking to a camera? If you have not, let me tell you that it is very weird. I’ll never understand how vloggers do it, talking to a camera. Shane Dawson, a popular Youtuber, has stated in a video he was making about sociopaths, that he thinks that you need to have a little bit of sociopathic tendencies to want to make vlogs, or talk to a camera on a daily basis. These people that put on fake personalities to prove to other people that their lives are better and glamorous or to get some sense of acceptance are most probably the ones you see while scrolling through Instagram or Twitter. Shane also states multiple times that if he had a choice, he would not be making videos as a job as the burden it has on a person is life changing. And why do these people do it? For your satisfaction and entertainment. Who would these people be without you? They would be nothing. The audience is what makes these people famous. You, finding a Jake Paul video to watch on Youtube where he is pranking innocent people who just want to be left alone. Yes, he does that for your entertainment.
Social media also has affected our generation so badly that people are committing suicide because of it. In a recent case, a girl posted on her Instagram story a poll with two choices, D or L. So naturally, people just picked whatever they wanted without knowing that she meant D for die and L for live. She jumped off the first floor of a mall the next day. The popular TV series, 13 Reason Why also highlights the effects this has on our generation. The story is about a girl who commits suicide because of all the bullying that happened in her school. Most of which was done through social media. There are also cases of people dying due to lack of food as they starve themselves to try to look like the people they see. This unrealistic body expectations take a huge toll on our generation as everyone tries their hardest to look like them and when they can’t, they get depressed.
A new study shows that there is a link between the use of social media and negative effects on health, primarily mental health. The study proves that when a person uses social media lesser, they feel less depressed and lonely meaning that decreased social media use can change the state of your mental health. Some of the effects that is has on people is loneliness, anxiety, depression, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and self acceptance. It Is definitely easier to feel depressed and lonely when all you see on social media is seemingly perfect people living their seemingly perfect lives.
When it comes to physical health, excessive use of smartphones also has negative effects. The most common being text neck which refers to a posture problem in the cervical spine which is caused by a prolonged tilt of the head. When you use your phone, you tend to be so focused on it that you end up holding your neck in an abnormal position for long periods of time which can cause back and neck pain. The symptoms of text neck are headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain and nerve related symptoms such as radiating pain, numbness, tingling and burning in either arm.
Smartphones have become a necessity in our society as everything we do now encompasses it, apps, study material, games and keeping in touch with others. Although it has its bad sides, the good sides cannot be ignored. But, a proper regimented use of the smartphones should be applied. Every once in a while, put down your phones, experience life not looking down at your phone but looking up and taking life straight on and living in the moment.