This would be day 4. Besides the momentary discomfort that occurs when I realize that I cannot post my current status or location to my 200-odd friends at any given moment, I am also struck by friends’ reactions. In real life, not via Facebook. “You deleted Facebook?” “Yes.” “Why would you do that?” “Because I spend too much time on it and it’s slowly eating away at my soul and free time.” “Well, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Really? Because something in me believes there’s something wrong with that. I spent a good amount of time reading as I was growing up and now that same amount of time is spent checking status updates, commenting on them, liking them, always putting a “may attend” on posted events(fear of commitment, you know how it is), etc. Also, this feeling of discomfort is interesting on a couple levels. The first being that I am a psychology major. It’s interesting how technology displayed through social networking sites, or lack thereof, influences culture. This is a bit more sociology-oriented, so let me put the blanket of “social sciences” on it before any of you hipster assholes decide to start splitting hairs. For thousands of years, man was content without electricity, computers, the internet, cellular devices, etc. Something in me believes they didn’t walk through their days feeling as if they were missing something large. They didn’t feel the need to update their status, hell they didn’t even know what a status was and they got on perfectly fine. So, currently, a person decides to live without social networking sites for a month and they are feeling generally uncomfortable. What is the impact on the culture of developed societies that creates a feeling of discomfort when presented with the idea of limiting technology usage for a set amount of time? I studied abroad for 2 months a couple years ago and wasn’t able to use my cell phone there(thanks, Cricket). None of us could use our phones, actually. The general response in that venture proves to me that I’m not alone. Everyone was so uncomfortable the majority of them purchased the kind of phone that you reload with minutes in a cell phone store. I was in the minority of people who didn’t because I couldn’t afford it. In that experience, the feeling of discomfort passed and I used a phone no more than 3 times in the entire 2 months I was there. I used internet in cafes, and not too frequently at that. So, given time, the discomfort that comes with withdrawal from technology passes. I became a person who doesn’t watch TV, use the phone or own a computer and I was not only comfortable, but pretty damn peachy in my recollection. But why is that feeling there in the first place? This is where psychology comes in, because it’s not because I look around the bus and realize that I’m one of the few people not on FB that makes me feel off. My feeling of anxiety is completely unrelated to the people around me; there’s something in me that believes I’m missing something. What so-and-so’s animals are doing and where I am in the longest poking war I’ve ever been in do cross my mind. But am I really missing them? FB has become the substitute for shooting the shit, I believe. Why call or text someone about how/what you’re doing when you can broadcast it in less than 140 characters to almost everyone you know? See, when the option of broadcasting it disappears, that’s where it gets interesting. A few paragraphs ago in writing this, I went downstairs and made some eggs. Now these eggs were absolutely dank-tastic, I must say. Chopped onions, a little milk(I like those bitches fluffy), copious amounts of medium cheddar cheese and salsa picante(fluffy, cheesy and spicy, where can you go wrong?). While I was never the sort to post pictures of the food I’m eating, I felt something in me want to inform the people I know of my egg-making abilities. And the feeling of discomfort again at knowing for the next 26 days that I won’t. At some point in the explosion of technology that my generation is the target audience of, we went from using technology to being connected to it in a way that makes us dependent on it. Rather than being, oh say a puzzle or something else that fills time, technology and social networking have become things that, when taken away, has a noticeable psychological impact. Frustration at not having a cell phone or discomfort at being as connected to my friends as most of the world’s population is to their friends. What is the impact of technology, specifically portable technology, on the psyche of a person in a modernized setting? I’m talking laptops, cell phones, iPads, iPods, iPhones, etc. If there was no dependence on these items, then there wouldn’t be the presence of anxiety and assorted feelings that come with their absence. The idea of being unplugged from a site that isn’t exactly earthshattering in importance has made me into an anxious human being that is afraid of missing the status update or event invitation of a lifetime. What the fuck is this shit? What has technology done to people since its explosion? How have we changed as a result of having everything we want at our fingertips at any given time? Why can’t we be comfortable with a good book and some coffee? I know I used to be. In 26 days, I’ll tell the whole world why that’s no longer good enough for comfort.
-Melanie