America needs a fast. In this case, I’m not talking about “intermittent fasting” or dieting, but we as a collective society need to disconnect from the internet and stop consuming the trillions of bytes of data and flashing lights that big tech companies try to force down our throats. This is not a call of action to rebel against Big Tech, this simply a call to action to take stock of ourselves and where we are placing our priorities.
Over the last week, I’ve received several newsletters from various news sources, that run the political spectrum, and they’ve all written about President Trump’s ban from various social media platforms, for fear he might incite more violence. As I reflect on the violence that rocked our nation’s Capitol on January 6th, and the demagoguery that led to it I have to wonder, how much time did these pungent supporters of Mr. Trump spend online, connecting and interacting with various faceless online networks versus being present in the lives of those around them? I have no academic studies readily available, and I can only speculate as to what their state of mind might be like based on my own experience taking a technology fast and abstaining from social media for the last two weeks, but I’ve already seen how my own personal relationships and mental and emotional state have improved by unplugging.
My morning routine used to comprise of checking my various social media accounts as soon as the coffee pot began brewing. Why? I have no idea. In all honesty nothing of note ever really happened in eight hours I was asleep. Sure, I had friends in different time zones who might have shared stories on Instagram from their night out and were just getting to bed while I was waking up, but these snippets of their lives were never really important or necessary for me to know about. Throughout the day I would constantly check social media out of boredom and was constantly reminded that I wasn’t in a place where I travel wherever I wanted or eat at exotic and exciting restaurants. I was also reminded about the ongoing pandemic and how I was jobless in an uncertain world. My anxiety naturally grew and I sought to escape it.
Escape from the stress of my world took the form of video games and streaming T.V. shows. In video games I could escape into a world where I knew all the rules and all the laws that dictated how my character could interact with others. In one somewhat popular, if offbeat PC game where players captain historical warships, I knew the limits and strengths of my ships against others. I knew how to set ambushes and be victorious and had a little bit of a reputation for being a renegade, but a fine captain of the T-61 German destroyer. My cares about being jobless melted away as my focus centered around the current battle and trying to inflict as much damage as possible to the other team. Eventually I would shut down the computer and move to the couch to continue watching whatever show had my attention. I didn’t need to think, I could simply passively consume and become vapid.
The need to unplug was real. I had wasted God knows how many hours of my life trying to escape the stress rather than actually trying to address it. By deleting social media from my phone, I still felt the itch to see what was happening, but I could focus on my work and not be distracted from my wife. We started having deeper conversations again and spending time reading together. I had forgotten how much I missed reading and ferociously tackled my pile of bought by unread books. I began feeling connected to the world around me again and being present to the people in my life.
If we only interact with people online, we run the risk of forgetting they are human. We might see a picture of a face, but it’s just a projection. As work and school have moved online and we’ve adapted with video conference calls, I worry we’ve slowly forgotten about the humanity of the person on the other side of the screen. To see videos of the Capitol protesters calling for police officers they’ve beaten down to be shot is disturbing. But what is more disturbing is the possibility that they had forgotten those officers are people too and not just a dehumanized “them.” Having to quarantine hasn’t helped matters either as we’ve been forced to isolate ourselves from the rest of our human society. Despite our constant need to feel connected, I again say we need to disconnect from social media and unplug for a while. There are still measures we can follow to be relatively safe like meeting outside, wearing masks, and washing our hands. Americans need to be reminded that the supposed “enemy” they fear next door is another human being too, who has his or her own concerns and dreams. We need to look up from our phones and at the people around us.
The Measure of a Man 