These days, it seems like the internet is integrated into nearly facet of everyday life. The first thing I do in the morning—even before taking a shower or eating breakfast—is to check to see if I have new emails or Facebook messages, and it’s also the last thing I do before I go to bed. I check bus schedules, traffic reports, and the weather from my BlackBerry when I’m out running errands, and search Google for trivial facts and conversation topics that come up during dinner or drinks with friends. As I sit here writing, my email, Facebook, and Skype accounts are all currently open, just in case someone out in the cyber world wants to connect with me.
Of course, my addiction to the internet is not unique. A report by Ofcom published in the Daily Mail Online earlier this year stated that Britons spend about nine hours a day connected to the internet via computers, tablets, Smartphones, and televisions. When tracking internet usage over the course of one month, the report found that the average Briton spends about 274 hours—or 11 days each month—online. In the U.S., the average amount of time Americans spend connected to internet devices each day is an estimated 11 hours, according to research from eMarketer.
With about one-third of our life now spent connected to the internet, there’s been a lot of speculation about how being “constantly connected” is affecting the way we absorb new information and communicate with others. Does constantly having several tabs open make us more prone to ADD? Does relying on email and social media for our daily interactions make us more socially inept in the “real world?” Would quality of life actually be better if we didn’t use the internet at all?
A writer, Paul Miller, recently attempted to answer those questions by leaving the internet for an entire year. That meant for 365 days, he didn’t read a single email, reference a single Wikipedia article, send a single Tweet, or even book a single airline ticket online. When he did finally reconnect in March 2013 of this year, he shared his observations on life without internet with the entire world, ironically via an internet article published on The Verge. Miller concluded that while it’s true that he did take more time to have meaningful interactions and notice life’s little joys, he ultimately felt lonelier and less connected in a life without internet. And, contrary to popular belief, ditching the internet did not ultimately make him more productive. While he enjoyed an initial spurt of energy and creativity, after several months, he found himself wasting time in different ways—watching too much TV, reading for distraction, and staying out too late with friends.
So maybe the solution isn’t to disconnect from the internet altogether, but to take short breaks to rest and recharge our batteries every once in a awhile. How long do you think you could go without a single Tweet or Google Search? My guess is not very long…
Techno Bird 