DISCONNECT
TO CONNECT
Have you ever felt so tired of
internet and devices that you felt you needed to turn yourself off? My answer
is that of course, I have felt sometimes like this. And I find it normal
because internet can sometimes become annoying...
We are a kind of “digital”
humans. Almost everyone has an e-mail account where they
receive at least one e-mail every day, and most people own one phone where they
receive calls and messages and visit many social networks. By this, I mean that
even old people are connected to the world! They learn how to make the most of
a device that I bet, they never thought they use.
This means we have registered on
a social network, giving some private information such as our name and surnames
(you can use fake information which is also a problem on internet, because you
can’t trust everybody) and every time we log on a social media and we post,
like or comment a publication, it is not erasable. Therefore, once you have
made it, it is forever. And here we have it… the problem arrives when your
privacy disappears.
You cannot make any move without
being noticed by anyone. Google, for example, tends to notify your friends when
you do anything. WhatsApp, and recently Instagram have added it, show your
“last seen”. This is basically the last time you’ve connected on the social network,
so if you don’t answer messages people see how you are ignoring them. I think
this creates an obsession with the possible fact of people ignoring you. The
double check, the last seen, the writing or online texts above your name…, what
they all have in common is the loss of our privacy.
You also receive notifications of
things you have not asked for. When someone uploads a video on YouTube, you
sometimes receive “recommendations” notifications, and I believe this is not
useful because as more notifications we have without seeing, the most we avoid
viewing them because it results tiring.
When we get up, we log on
networks to check what happened during night. During the day, even when we are
not allowed, we check our phone lots of times. When we arrive home after all
day at work, we connect again to check how everyone is doing.
There is no pause. There is a
constant need to know everything about others and to share our life with the
world. Even when you see pics of your friends having a bath, relaxing, having
dinner with friends…, you know, posing and sharing what they do, I believe they
aren’t really relaxing and sharing their time with them, because they are
sharing a post while they are supposedly having their attention focused on
other things. Unfortunately this is what we are getting used to, and it’s a
pity we measure how amazing things are by the number of likes, comments and
reactions they have once we share them.
Do you avoid reading messages
because you do not want to answer? Do you feel bad if someone tags you on a
post and you do not want to comment or like it? Do you feel a constant need of
checking for new messages so you know if someone has ignored you? Do you feel
the need of sharing what you are doing? Do you need to take a perfect photo for
your Instagram? Do you need to add a filter to the photo you have taken so it
looks beautiful?
I feel sorry for you…, really,
really sorry. You are attached to internet and to a device that will provide
nothing but worries about others. And you know who do you need to be worried
about? Yes, of course, you know… but you do not want to accept it. You need to
worry about you and about your constant need to check what everybody posts and
about sharing what you do to make it feel magnificent.
If you want to post a photo of
your adventure, do it! However, do not do it if you feel you are doing for
demonstrating something! Do not lose your valuable time looking for the perfect
filter, the perfect quote, the perfect post. There is nothing more perfect than
hat you enjoy your time yourself, without having the need of sharing it.
You should not be worried about
it because you do not have to do anything if you do not want to… There is no
need to post photos on your Instagram, to comment on Twitter about political
issues, to answer a Whatsapp if you do not want to… Take your time to do
whatever and do it because you will enjoy it, not to demonstrate nothing to
your environment!
Maria Maroto Amigó
4th ESO “C”
