Study asks students to abstain from using all electronic media for 24hours. Could you do it?

A study conducted by the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda asked 200 students at the University of Maryland to stop using all electronic media for only 24hours.  They were then asked to describe the experience through personal blogs, reporting on any successes, or confessing any failures they encountered.  Needless to say, if there’s any doubt that a day without media can have a drastic effect on a modern person’s psychology, lifestyle, and attitudes, just read the 110,000 words (equivalent of a 400 page novel) produced by the students after the experience.  Here is what some of the students had to say, many of them well before the 24 hours was up.

-On a psychological note, my brain periodically went crazy because I found at times that I was so bored I didn’t know what to do with myself.”

-When I don’t have [my cell phone] on my person, sometimes it can feel like I am missing a limb because I feel so disconnected from all the people who I think are calling me, but really they aren’t half the time.”

-“I got back from class around 5, frantically craving some technology and to look through my phone so I cheated a little bit and checked my phone. From my phone, I accessed text messages, close to a dozen missed calls, glanced at some emails, and acknowledged many twitter @replies from followers wondering where I was and if I was ok. At that moment, I couldn’t take it anymore being in my room…alone…with nothing to occupy my mind so I gave up shortly after 5pm. I think I had a good run for about 19 hours and even that was torture.”

This is a wordle or a graphic representation of words that best describe the students feelings (the bigger the word, the more often it was used)

To me this displays a continuous and disturbing trend about human nature and society–a society that leaps head first into any and every technology at its disposal because it appears, at least on the surface, to produce some benefit.

I’ll leave you with some valuable insight from Neil Postman’s Technopoly: the Surrender of Culture to Technology

Every technology is both a burden and a blessing; not either-or, but this-and-that. (1992)

Is the “Machine” Changing us???: Youtube Culture and the Politics of Authenticity

Have you ever wondered why American Idol is so popular or why Youtube has taken the world by storm? Or have you ever considered why millions of people line up for talent contests for that one chance to make it big?

Well, Dr. Michael Welsch does it for you in his entertaining, informational, and heart-felt Personal Democracy Forum presentation Toward a New Future of “Whatever”.  This is the best explanation of media ecology out there right now and Michael does a brilliant job of mixing the academic theories of people like Marshall Mcluhan and Niel Postman, to relevant pop culture phenomena like American Idol, Nirvana, and Youtube.  It also provides some scary insights into the psyche of today’s “machine” driven society.  This quote concerning American Idol is particularly unnerving:

“What we are encountering is a panicky, an almost hysterical attempt to escape from the deadly anonymity of modern life…and the prime cause is not vanity…but the craving of people who feel their personality sinking lower and lower into the whirl of indistinguishable atoms to be lost in a mass civilization.”

Scariest Part? This is Henry Canby from 1926

If you’re at all curious about where we are, or where we’re going, give this presentation a watch (the first 15 minutes are the best).

New Book Helps “Use” not “Lose” Digital Distractions

Joanne Cantor, director of UW-Madison’s Center for Communication Research and an expert on the psychological impact of media and communications, is a recovering “cyeber-addict”.  Her new book Conquer Cyberoverload: Get More Done, Boost Your Creavity, and Reduce Stress explains how the brain doesn’t work effectively while multi-tasking, why information overload can limit creativity, and how both traditional media and modern digtital devices can add stress to one’s life.

The best thing about this read is that it’s intended for people who don’t read real, tangible, paper books because they can’t peel themseleves away from a screen.  At only 108 pages, it also includes plenty of easy-to-follow tips and recommendations for those who feel overwhelmed by digital distractions.  Lastly, Cantor, who still spends plenty of time sending and recieving emails, surfing the net, and fiddling with her iPhone says she is the best proof that making some minor changes can really improve one’s life.

Hello and welcome to Digital Dependence! A blog dedicated to examining the influence of our ever-evolving relationship with new technologies.

Why am I starting this blog?

As a communication specialist, I’m more aware than ever that human beings, you and me, at least in the Western world, are cyborgs.  That’s right, cyborgs—incapable of existing without the prosthetic extension of cell phones, computers, and the all important internet or 3G network.

I see first hand the stroke inducing panic of a lost cell phone or poor wireless connection.  I see people actually risking their lives to send meaningless texts while driving.  I see psych wards filled with more people than my gmail inbox.   But is this the foundation of my grievance?

No, it is not.  I also see the benefits of technology: the development of healthcare, the access to far away places, the interconnectivity, and the potential to help others.

Rather, my concern is for the mind—for the social fabric of our lives.  We have accepted, and in many ways become unquestioningly obedient to the technologies given to us—to the point that internet and cell phone addiction have become medically diagnosable.  We adore their advantages while being deliberately blind to their disadvantages.

So, all I’m asking, as a cell phone user, as a gamer, and for Christ’s sake as a blogger, is that we just consider the impact they have on our individual lives and on society.  That way, we can learn to manipulate these technologies for our gain, rather than having them manipulate us.