Week 4 Commentary— Connection & Disconnection
As Nathan Jurgensen stated, ‘you can take your break, but there is no escape.’ This is very true when it comes to the concept of ‘digital detox’ and what usually occurs when one attempts to detach themselves from ALL types of digital technology (deBoer 2014). Another important note in relation the process of ‘digital detoxing’ is that (according to The Verge’s Paul Miller’s own experience) one doesn’t neccesarily get wiser or healthier. He stated ‘I’m supposed to be enlightened. I’m supposed to be more “real”, now. More perfect. But instead, it ‘s 8PM and I just woke up. I slept all day…” This represents how often times, technology takes the blame for various negative changes throughout society or how it is the fault of technology that one feels creatively or mentally stifled, but this is not always the case or always proven to be correct.
This being stated, it is clear that ‘digital detox’ is now prominent enough to not be considered a ‘fad’ or a temporarily popular phenomena but it is a concept which has grown tremendously in terms of popularity over the last several years. The ‘art of unplugging’, as this is known as, can effective if done once in a while (Talwar 2017). Participating in this is not detrimental in any possible way.
The problem with this is that even for taking a leave of absence from all or various forms of technology, is that many people find this to be a very difficult and arguous task. A good example of this is from Bernie Hobbs’ article (Hobbs 2016), which states that practicing to eventually last longer without various technologies is a good way to start the process of digital detoxing. What worked for him, when looking at mobile phone usage as example, is that during the first two days, “every time you reach for your phone, take a screenshot so you’ve got a record of how long you last between checks”, according to Hobbs. The next step, according to Hobbs, is to decide how often you’d want to check the phone, and when it suits you. Hobbs stated, “for me, the biggest thing was to not check it in the morning until I was about to leave …for work.” These forms of digital detoxing is fine, as Hobbs was pleased with the results. However, I feel that the flexibility of what exactly constitutes digital detoxing is problematic as the lack of strict guidelines behind the concept makes the concept ineffective, in its entirety. Many people can attribute their own practices as digital detoxing, whether the results are effective or not.
The goal is to improve on the concept in a scholarly sense and subsequently in real-world application in our current media ecology, as a whole. Also, a great idea is to stop thinking of technology as ‘bad’ or ‘harmful’ to our society but simply important parts our media ecology and a ‘means to an end’ (We don’t need digital detox, but there is a need to rethink our relationship with technology 2015).
Reference List
deBoer, F 2014, ‘Wk 4: Connection and Disconnection’, Digital Breaks, or “Breaks” << The Dish, Learning materials on Blackboard, Swinburne University of Technology, 19 August 2014, viewed 16 August 2018.
Talwar, S 2017, Why a Digital Detox Is Essential Every Now and Then, Sakshi Talwar, viewed 19 August 2018, <https://www.huffingtonpost.com/sakshi-talwar/why-a-digital-detox-is-es_b_8069678.html>
Hobbs, B 2016, Digital detoxing in the real world: How to get started, Bernie Hobbs, viewed 18 August 2018,<http://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2016-10-20/digital-detoxing-in-the-real-world/7946634>
We don’t need digital detox, but there is a need to rethink our relationship with technology 2015, The Conversation, viewed 19 August 2018,<https://theconversation.com/we-dont-need-digital-detox-but-there-is-a-need-to-rethink-our-relationship-with-technology-40346>
