“Don’t rail against progress!”
That’s what I tell anyone who tells me how cell phones are ruining society.
And since my cell phone is ever-present and nearly always in use, I get told this all the time. It’s usually the first of a three-pronged plea by my senior relatives to put my phone away and talk directly to them.
Me: (In their company, scanning my phone for whatever …)
Them: “Cell phones are ruining this society.”
Me: “Don’t rail against progress.”
Them: “Why are people always looking at those things?”
Me: “Because they do so much. They’re very handy and necessary. People multitask.”
Them: “Will you PLEASE put that thing away?!”
Me: “I can’t. I need it.”
And I do. It’s impossible for me to concentrate effectively if I don’t have my phone at hand. I, like many, have felt the sheer panic in discovering that I’ve left my cell at home and must try to accomplish my daily tasks without it.
“I need my phone! What if there’s an emergency? How can anyone reach me?”
In reality, I almost never use my phone for the phone. Last week, I tracked my media consumption in a diary I kept over one weekday. In the more than nine hours I spent engaging with media (TV, radio, tablet and mostly, my iPhone), I logged only six minutes of telephone time. The other 9 hours and 13 minutes were spent “checking” things: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, the Internet, my email — and, of course, my work. Almost all of it was exclusively accessed through my cell.
The only “lulls” in my day — when I wasn’t looking at my phone — were, thankfully, when I was driving. Even walking to and from my car, I was using (yes, it’s my addiction).
I was not surprised by how much media I consume through my phone, nor that I hardly make phone calls anymore. I’ve embraced the fact that I’m “always on,” and so are most people like me. Whatever I may appear — to some — to be losing because of that fact (in-person chat time, undistracted down time) is outweighed, in my view, by what I’m gaining: Incredible tech savviness, agility at multitasking, closer social connections (if virtual and not actual) and up-to-the-minute awareness of the world.
Because I value these assets, I’m never “off.” And I don’t seek it from others. I rarely ask my colleagues, students, church friends or associates to put their phones away. I know they’re paying attention — to me and other things.
It’s simple to do because today we have the world at our fingertips. That’s progress. So don’t rail against it.
CMSU Reflections 