How I Became One Without Nature: The Impact of Social Media
When I was little and just beginning small homework assignments, my parents already knew I’d be hard to keep on track. I would put off doing my math facts for as long as I could, and then when I was finally bribed to sit down and scribble out 2+2, I would find anything and everything to distract myself.
This eventually led to my parents buying a sand hourglass and putting in front of my face for incentive, and it weirdly worked. I would finish as fast as I could because I got so nervous about the sand running out, and then I could finally watch my nightly TV show with my bowl of ice cream. Something I didn’t know at the age of seven, is that I would be the same exact way in college and that an hourglass would be no competition for my cell phone
I wish an hourglass would solve the hours on end I spend scrolling through social media in an attempt to avoid schoolwork in college, but alas it is not that strong in the digital age. Even as I write this, I have given my roommate my phone to eliminate distractions, however I receive texts on my laptop. It’s forever an ongoing battle against myself.
Why does technology make it so difficult to focus and get stuff done? For myself, it all stems around the fear of missing out, or as some people refer to it, FOMO. As soon as I put down my phone and open my laptop to begin an assignment, I can’t help but think, who is doing what now? Are my friends having fun without me? What am I missing? The second technology is stripped from me, I feel like I am on a deserted island.
I go to Maine every summer and feel this FOMO to a new extent. Where we go in Maine has no cell service, and didn’t have wifi until last year. Well my parents secretly had wifi, but didn’t tell us. Or so I learned. Anyways, when I used to go in the peak of my digital addiction as a teenager, it would feel like some kind of cruel punishment. Taking a walk in the woods was no longer fun, not even because of the bugs or dirt, but because my Instagram wouldn’t refresh. Writing this, I know how sad it sounds. I too wish that I could just turn off my phone for a week and feel no remorse, however being raised in the time of social media, it is nearly impossible.
In person communication, especially in the COVID time period, has been replaced with online connections. Being without these online sources can almost feel like you are being isolated. Not only are digital conversations more superficial than in-person conversations, but they can lead to increased social anxiety and loneliness because everyone needs to feel connected to real people to thrive psychologically. In order to help rid these feelings of isolation, it is extremely important to build in-person connections and limit phone time before it’s too late, and you are a 20 year-old college student who has to give her phone away to her roommate to write her paper.