Chronically Online
This post was inspired from is offline the new luxury on ava's blog, and is kind of a response to it.
One thing I've realized over the past few years is that everyone, including my peers, has become chronically online. Everyone has gotten addicted to their phones and can't go without them for a few minutes.
Even though our phones are essential to us in the days of mobile payments, video calling, and intercontinental communication, with the appearance of brain rot and even shorter and less creative, repetitive content we have, I would say, been consumed by the machine. Big tech companies are just aiming to earn more money collect more user data and earn even more money.
Especially now with TikTok, endless scrolling without reason has become a reality. You aren't getting anything useful from it, but ByteDance (the company that owns TikTok) now has data on all of your interests and hobbies.
In this day and age, it's become harder and harder to be offline and experience life how you're actually supposed to. While I'm not the one to judge, I, as someone who uses his phone way too much can say that real experiences and real risks in life are the ones that provide you with the most happiness and build memories that are going to stay there for life.
Now look, I'm not trying to sound like a boomer and blame everything "on the damn phone!", because, needless to say, we are the ones responsible for shaping our lives, not our phones. If we get addicted to something - it's our choice and our fault. While somebody may have fun just being on their phone, there's a line to be drawn between real experiences and entertainment.
And again, there were simpler times. Back in the days when the Internet had just started, websites were much more cozy and personal and not the corporate bullshit we are being served today.
I'd like to look at it like air pollution. In the beginning, the air was as clean as it can be. Now it's the filthiest and most filled with crap.
But back to the topic. I feel like real experiences are also being overshadowed by people always pulling out their phones and either being on them during an actual conversation or just pulling them out for anything else while being outside and actively experiencing.
However weird the last paragraph sounded, it's especially true for my generation and it's becoming the norm for younger generations. Hell, even the boomers are becoming addicted to their phones nowadays.
And I know I've probably repeated myself tens of times in this post, but to conclude: we're in a weird place in society where we are lacking real experiences and are chasing temporary happiness while misleading ourselves to not believe we're addicted.
It's a weird world we're living in, but we never know what awaits us next.
Until next time! 🖋️
Day 40 of #100DaysToOffload
