As part of my Digital Detox series, I like to post testimonies from people who have been battling digital intoxication and how they are getting free of it. So if you’ve got a story you want to share or some tips you’ve found helpful, please click on the little blue envelope to the right of the main page and you’ll get my email address. Diane sent me her story in response to last week’s Facebook Live video.
I have a couple thoughts regarding your video, which my husband and I watched on your blog. I loved that you pointed out that the root problem is that people are addicted to their phones/technology because I believe this is true.
Being an older person (65 yrs), I’ve marveled at this “seemingly new” phenomenon since I’ve struggled with it myself. I have given this much thought over the years and believe television was the precursor to this problem. Every techno-addict — young and old alike — have grown up with television.
I was born in 1951 in the era of B&W TV and “party lines.” As new believers in the early 70’s my husband and I did not own a TV for more than decade of our marriage — our eldest child was nine before we caved and got one.
I believe that one reason people are so vulnerable to social media addiction is because they have never learned how to be alone with their thoughts. Go to any nursing home today and most everyone will be sitting in front of the TV. People have been programed not to be bored and lonely. They do not know what to do with themselves and social media fills the gap and provides a connection with other people, even when they have plenty to do!
Last year my husband worked in South Africa for two months and I was unable to go because of health problems. I was basically housebound in an empty house and I turned to Facebook to keep me company. It was a lifeline. That accidental experiment got me to thinking about how dependent I had become on it and how much I longed for “the good old days” before the invasion of TV and other electronics.
What DID we do back then? We read a lot. We played games, had people over, visited people who were lonely, served like crazy at church, worked…..you get the idea. I don’t ever remember being bored. Our children were never bored either! Even though we lived in the city, they always found something to amuse themselves. Something to create. It’s funny how after we introduced the TV into our home they began to lose some of their creative energy and become more restless.
Thank you so much for writing these posts. They are very much needed. I have “retired” from blogging in order to simplify my life again.