Re: Can you do a digital detox?

Carmen Joy King's article talks about Facebook and it's connection to a self absorbed generation. I can agree that there are people in this world that try very hard on social networking sites to gain some level of appreciation they do not receive in real life. On the internet we can muster up the courage to show the world just how "cool" we are. We post up pictures and status updates, and anything we possibly can to gain attention from our peers, then we go crazy waiting for some sort of comment, opinion, or acceptance. I can agree with her, that our generation can go to extremes to feed our self esteem by becoming "Twitter famous" or "Youtube famous" because it makes us feel like we are  special and important.

However in my own opinion Facebook and other social networking sites are much more than a cry for attention to feed our ego's . It's become a way of communication much like the telephone. People no longer have to meet up with their friends to see what's happening in their life, they can just check their twitter account. It's away to talk to friends and family simultaneously without having to hang up the phone and call the other person. With social networking sites you can communicate with someone across the world easily without having to wait for an appropriate time for the both of you to tell them a tiny little rumour you heard. From personal experience, being without the internet for a couple days I found myself coming to school the next day not knowing what everyone has been talking on facebook the previous night.

So, as for going on a digital detox, Whether it is my own ego, or my need to communicate with friends and family on a daily basis, I wouldn't manage to last two days. Maybe if i didn't live in a time and society where social networking was mandatory for social and business matters, I would last a lot longer without it. However seeing as a very high majority of the earth's population is hooked up to Facebook or twitter or whatever site it may be, going on a digital detox would most likely be equivalent to putting yourself on a desert island.