Technology and especially our screens have become a big part of our lives. Its usefulness is undeniable and its existence is embedded in almost all that we do, so much so, that it’s rather challenging to imagine a world without our mobile phones. But if we were to envisage a world without mobile phones – Would anything really change?
We, at HIL, initiated an experiment to find out just that!
We challenged two of our phone-addicted youngsters to curb their phone and social media usage for an entire week, and the results blew us away.
Social Media is supposed to connect us to the world, but it actually disconnects us from reality.
We’re not saying it’s unheard of that social media disconnects us from the real world, they shield us
from the quirks of interaction and stand between us and reality. When one opens Facebook or Instagram, one sees the unrealistic lives of people around us. Everyone seems happier, smarter, prettier, stronger, etc. It makes us feel lesser and that we’re not good enough – therefore fuelling insecurities and jealousy.
Here are some of our findings and suggestions regarding social media after our challenge
‘Get to the point’ – Our Phones
It’s possible that the reason we love our screens so much is because tech is prompt, it understands us and
doesn’t require to be asked twice. Our devices serve us faithfully and do as we command without question. For instance, Alexa, a virtual assistant from Amazon is a personal robot. She can play music, set timers and switch on your lights just from your voice. However, life without Alexa, Siri and OK Google is not, well, unthinkable. When our participants logged off from these devices, they realised that they were more active and felt more independent. Their focus improved and they were able to empathise better with their family and friends.
Tip : Get the app Offtime available on ios, android which helps with a digital detox and use your
mobile device without getting distracted by apps.
Technology makes our life simpler. We can connect with our loved ones, learn new hobbies and
skills, and organise our lives, which is amazing. Now if we dial back the clock, we already were
doing these things in one form or another before we had our phones and iPads. One of our participants revealed that they stopped themselves from reaching for their phones several times during the day which helped them reduce their social media consumption. Another stated to become more conscious about the kind of media intake, since we sometimes can mirror what we see on our screens which influences our brains and builds our perceptions.
Is the notion of multitasking getting out of hand?
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” – Albert
Einstein
In conversation with social media enthusiasts, a recurring idea was this need to be productive all the time. There is a trend in mainstream social media to make each second count by combining tasks together. More often than not, in the pursuit to juggle several tasks at once, we are unable to perform anything properly and end up wasting more time and energy than we would have if we had focused our energies on one task.
Teenagers in school are taking A level classes, learning an instrument, preparing for the SAT whilst working on a start-up idea. Occasionally it may be wise to listen to an audiobook while working out, or putting on a Spanish podcast while travelling, or practicing yoga on the treadmill (popularly called ‘TROGA’). Our participants found that they were better equipped in dealing with complex situations and ideas only when they set aside their phones. They were able to channel their energies in a particular direction and were more likely to come across the right solution.
Therefore, to conclude, we had a successful Phone Life challenge and our participants were able to stay away from social media. The results proved to be promising and our participants received a lot of benefits by staying away from social media. Therefore, we challenge our readers to complete our phone life challenge! (see: video)