Media Blackout: the Off the Grid Challenge On Thursday, October 6th, I decided to take the plunge and cut myself off from social media and news for 24 hours, from midnight the night of the 6th to midnight the night of the 7th. I spent about eight of those hours asleep, one at the gym, four in class, and the remaining fifteen hours in leisure, doing homework or spending time with friends. The only time I used my phone at all was to receive text messages, and I did not open anything on my computer besides Microsoft Word and the Hofstra Portal. This was an interesting experiment, especially coming at a time where the world in general is obsessed with checking in, posting and sharing their various opinions all over the digital universe. The …show more content…
I did allow myself to use my cell phone for texting during this 24 hour period, but I did turn off notifications for every other app. My mother is the only one that texts me, and most of my friends use messenger apps like GroupMe, Snapchat or Facebook Messenger to communicate, and after the experiment I received a lot of accusations that I was ignoring my friends. I did warn most of my friends that I was going “off the grid” for a bit. It was interesting to see who was actually listening, in that sense. On the bright side, when I came back, I received a lot of pictures and videos of cute animals. It was also interesting to see how much time my peers spend on their phones. I was out getting dinner with some friends, and we went about 20 minutes before someone checked their phone. As soon as one person checked their phone, the rest of the group went immediately for their phones. Even I felt the compulsion to check my phone. This opened the floodgates, and after the initial 20 minute span, not 5 minutes passed before someone else checked their phone. This phenomenon interested me, and it is one of the most cited examples when older generations complain about millennials on their phones. “They’re not engaging!” they cry, “How can you make human contact if you’re always on your phone?” This can be a valid critique. Still, I’ve noticed that people of older generations have a drastically different
I’m scrolling through the articles on Snapchat and find my way across one with an intriguing title, I instantly tap on it. I begin to scroll further down only to find myself going through extensive paragraphs of information and suddenly this article that seemed so interesting became a bore. In Nicholas G. Carr’s novel, The Shallows, he argues the internet is creating more problems to us humans than actual benefits. Our social skills are starting to lack and our interaction with technology is beginning to heighten. Humans contemplative skills are slowly fading away due to our reliance on the internet to solve our problems. Technology is inevitable by humans, seeing that individuals use it in their everyday lives. Unfortunately, this is a problem considering the use of high-tech gadgets decrease in one’s capacity for concentration, contemplation, and personal memory.
Little do these parents know having a cell phone is hurting their social skills. Parents are worried about if their children are doing inappropriate things online or going to get hurt by cyberbullying,t when really they are worrying about the wrongs things. Bindley says,“But what about a more basic question like, Will they be able to hold their own in conversation!” (Katherine Bindley) Always staring at their phones texting their friends and peers is making it harder for them to be able to speak in person.Child psychologist Melissa Ortega notices the problems with high schoolers today from simply talking to them for a couple minutes. They avoid conversation by looking at their phones every two minutes to see if they received a text back. Binldey then says, “Another thing I’m noticing is they may have trouble initiating interactions, those small talk situations” (Katherine Bindley). They use text messages for small talk now to avoid the in person conversations. Just making small talk with a stranger when on an elevator is something of the past because of cell phones. There are no awkward situations when people can be scrolling on their phone instead of making conversation. Gary Small said, “We all know the story of kids breaking up with each other through text message. When you have to fire someone or give them bad news, it’s uncomfortable. In facetoface conversation, you’ve
Nowadays, the media uses bias, distortion, and censorship as a way to manipulate public opinion. Censorship alone is becoming a huge issue due to technological advances. What would have been censored ten years ago, may not be censored today and if it were still censored there would be a way to find it on the internet. In a blog post by University of Central Florida student Diara Cornish titled Media Censorship, Now and Then discusses censorship within media and the effect that media has on children of this technological era. As time goes on censorship along with media has evolved, however; we still come across issues with what should be censored and what should not be. In the source titled “The War Photo No One Would Publish”, by Tori Rose DeGhett we come to understand that censorship guidelines may actually be hiding valuable information from the public. Censorship came about as a way to shield those who are vulnerable from something that may cause them trauma, but this in turn only dulls and hinders the development of an emotional understanding. Guidelines
Would that be possible to stay away from our technology’s devices for just a day? The answer for this question will bring a lot of negative answers, and of course if we ask this question in a survey, “NO” will be the winner of this survey. Talking about the use of technology reminded me one of the sources from my annotated bibliography by Amy Petersen, who is the Theatre and Media Arts Department Chair and Associate Professor in the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University. In her article which she wrote about the overuse of tech in our daily life and its affects, she said “If you would have told me a few years ago that I would feel completely lost without a cell phone, I never would have believed you. Now my iPhone is almost always within reach. My children likely believe that my most important possession is my MacBook Air, which is usually open and on whenever I am in the house. (“Jensen” par. 3)” Yes technology, internet, and cell phone became our best friends, and most of us can’t live without them.
Although cell phones have opened our world to more opportunities to communicate and ensure safety, humans have abused the use of cell phones by not limiting their time spent looking at FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc. The key to the puzzle is moderation: balancing one’s cellular world with real life. The next time friends want to hang out, they should be encouraged to set their phones aside and enjoy the world around them, and not the one in their
Today, modern technology has changed our way of life in many different ways. We spend most of our time staring into our phones and do not realize our surroundings. According to Jean Twenge, the author of “ Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation”, ninety-two percent of teens report going online at least once a day, and fifty-six percent admit they go online several times a day. This may sound unrealistic but why do we spend so much time on social media? In “ Our Minds Can Be Hijacked”, an article by Paul Lewis, Lewis interviews Google, Twitter, and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive and demonstrates how we can prevent ourselves from being harmed by it. I believe companies are partially responsible for creating addiction
Technology is getting more and more advanced. It is impressive that what back in the day people would make an extra effort to study, work, or to leave a certain habit. Mark Bittman mentions “It takes different formats for different people, and you have to build up to it; you can’t run five miles if you’ve never run at all (page 3).” Everyone needs courage to fight this addiction and if we preserve, we might defeat this horrible situation. In my personal experience, I’ve always said if you want something, you must give something in return. If we want peace, we need to absent ourselves from making any bad decision. If we want to take vacations, we will need to give time and get money at work. In this case if we want to be free from this terrible addiction, we need to put apart any electronic device little by little. Although, many people think that it is not necessary to leave our phones apart to have peace, other people who have practiced different methods to find inter peace affirms that putting any technology apart had a huge impact in their lives. Even though, Mark Bittman it is not a spiritual person, he found personal peace by making time to relieve his soul. If we give ourselves some more personal space and practice the beautiful hobby of a virtual break, we will find ourselves in a better
Television is a vital source from which most Americans receive information. News and media delegates on television have abused theirs powers over society through the airing of appealing news shows that misinform the public. Through literary research and experimentation, it has been proven that people's perception of reality has been altered by the information they receive from such programs. Manipulation, misinterpretation, word arrangement, picture placement and timing are all factors and tricks that play a major role in the case. Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered (Browne 1998). Media has changed with time, along with quality and respectability. Many Americans receive and accept false information that is merely used as an attention grabber that better the show's ratings and popularity. Many magazines and Journal reviews have periodically discussed the "muckraking" that many tabloid shows rely on to draw in their viewers. This involves sensationalizing a story to make it more interesting, therefore increasing the interest of the audience. "Along the way, all sorts of scandalous substance and goofy tricks appear, but not much mystery in the logic," (Garnson 1997). People often know that these shows aim to deceive them, but still accept the information as truth. Many times, people have strong opinions on certain topics. Yet, when they are exposed to the other side of the argument, they may be likely to agree with the opposite view. As Leon Festinger said, "If I chose to do it (or say it), I must believe in it," (Myers 1997). This is an example of Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, which pertains to acting contrary to our beliefs. Television influences many people to change their original beliefs. It has the viewers think that the majority of other people hold the contrary idea. Once these views are presented, people have the option to hol...
It is well known that smartphones improve everyone’s life. They not only give us support every second but also prevent us from being bored to death. Yet some neglect these benefits and argue that smartphones can ruin our social life, and that we should decrease our smartphone usage. In some rare occasions what they say can happen to sound convincing. However, we strongly recommend that you let it go through one ear and out the other ear. You should even try to be benevolent and help the minority of the population advance. Here are some reasons why:
Cell phones have crept into an owner’s possession at all times. “The mobile phone has become a part of us: our best friend who will save all our secrets, pleasures and sorrows” ("Exploring"). Teens have developed the need to know the latest news on social media every minute of every day; they do not want to miss any little detail. Since the beginning of smart phones, high school students have felt the need to have their media open on their smart phone in front of them so they do not feel empty. Once someone has become attached or addicted to something, it is hard to change their habits. Cell phones have changed people socially, especially with the availability to social media with electronics.
Every human possesses some guaranteed basic freedoms and rights, whether it is the freedom of speech, or the freedom to express themselves. However, the government seems to be increasingly determined to limit these freedoms using censorship to confine these rights that we usually take for granted. The most important facet of media in general is that it allows people to express themselves freely. In fact, this freedom of expression that music allows us is one of the primary reasons why it exists. Sadly, many of the current artists have forgotten that, but nonetheless, censorship seems to always be there to limit the expression of those who choose to place deeper messages in their songs. Tackling censorship is much more important than it appears to be at the surface; to take down censorship would help preserve the expression of thought. It would help preserve the right to listen to the unaltered forms of everything. Most importantly, it would help preserve the rapidly weakening basic right of speech.
Whether it’s a friend that switched schools and is never around, or a family member in another country, the internet makes it possible to email, instant message, and even video chat. Such qualities of internet communication bring people together with more frequent contact, boosting sociability and relationships. The article “Fast Entertainment and Multitasking in an Always-on World” said, “‘I multitask the most with the computer and television,’ Justin explained. When there are commercials he usually goes online, ‘In that gap of time, I am normally on instant messenger talking to friends’” (Watkins 147). This is showing that people are squeezing in all their time to be connected with other people so they don’t fall behind society. Constantly connecting with people online has become a way to communicate to anyone throughout th...
Do you realize how much you use your phone? And how phones affect your social life? Cell Phones affect society in good and bad ways. It's impossible to imagine a time when there were no phones, which was a long time ago. During 1983 the first phone was made, it took 10 hours to charge the battery. Before smartphone were invented. We even have portable chargers now. No one could imagine life without phones. Weather your checking twitter or texting a friend. Everyone likes to talk, listen and learn about new things. Todd Stark weather said “It’s up to the student whether or not they choose to spend class time listening and learning, or wasting their time on the phone.”
Most people cannot even remember the time before social media was introduced. Social media has become a big part of our everyday lives and it is hard to think of the world without it now. Nowadays the number of places where the Internet is considered necessary is growing. There are more and more cities implementing public Internet access in zones like parks or squares (Gomez-Almaguer, Acosta-Olivo, Garcia-Quintanilla, and Jaime-Perez 69). Life before social media seemed so much calmer and productive. Nowadays almost everyone has their smartphone in their pocket or sitting on their desk while they are at work. It is so easy to stop your work and grab your phone and look at your Facebook or twitter application and get stuck on it for an
To begin with, the most prominent function of the smartphone is for communication purposes. Communication is relayed in many forms; texting, calling or via social networking sites. Texting is the most common and quickest way of communication. Research conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project indicates that 9 in 10 American smartphone users send and receive text (MarketingCharts, 2011). The text feature allows for delivery of information within a fast time frame, regardless of the receiver's location. On the other hand, even though this allows for a much faster way of communication with people, it also decreases the ability to use other, and much older ways of communication. According to a Huffington Post article, Cris Rowan, a therapist, argues that texting results in “no creativity, there’s no imagination, no self-initiation” (Bindley, 2011). However, texting and emailing is frequently seen as a downside as many studies indicate that they ...