Always On, Needs to Turn Off!

“Now that anytime, anywhere technology and fast entertainment are pervasive parts of our cultural environment, deciding what to pay attention to is more challenging than ever.”—Watkins (168)

The always on culture that has captured this generation has greatly impacted the way we socially interact. I feel that our interactions are less human to human, and more human to technology to human. When friends hang out there is rarely an omission of technology. “Come watch a movie at my place,” or “let’s set up our fantasy team,” or “Let’s play COD tonight”. I’ve asked friends over to play cribbage or something of the sort, and the response I always get is “I don’t know how to play.” To my reckoning, most people don’t know how to play more than 3 different card games, and don’t really care to learn. Even when people do hang out for a game night full of human to human interaction, it is coupled with background music from the internet. There’s no limit to music selection anymore. “No matter where we are,” as Watkins says, “fast entertainment is generally just a click away” (157). This may not sound like a bad thing, but negative consequences result from this culture.

Besides this incorporation of technology into your human relationships, the omnipresence of digital technology is always lurking and infiltrating your environment. It’s exceptional now to hold a conversation with someone (my age) for more than five minutes without someone’s phone surfacing. Perhaps they are fidgety and absently need to check the time. But more than likely, you are never the only one being addressed or running through the other’s mind. Somewhere in between the cellular connection is a conversation taking up your conversing partner’s thoughts. They often (mentally) leave you as they check into their other conversation. When they return a look of confusion or catching up runs across their face… or they will just come out with it and say, “Wait. What?” I hate it! It is so rude, but it is becoming more and more commonplace.

The more we allow digital technology to worm into our lives the more addicted to it we become. This has lead to such negative outcomes as outlined above.  In certain scenarios, multitasking can prove effective and beneficial. But I feel that when someone is multitasking with human to human interactions, it diminishes the strength that such interactions once had.

Cognitive control in media multitaskers is a study that goes more in depth with the effects of the media multitasking.