National Day of Unplugging - Op/Ed

photo courtesy of Unsplash.com (Stanislav Kondratiev)

In the digital age of technology, it can be easy for us to forget about the world around us. March 3rd marks The National Day of Unplugging which was originally founded by the Reboot Network.
by Brayden Downey

In the digital age of technology, it can be easy for us to forget about the world around us. March 3rd marks The National Day of Unplugging which was originally founded by the Reboot Network.

​With Walton County and Walnut Grove High School seeing such an ever-growing digital presence within the last few years, it can be easy for us to forget about the world around us. As high school students, we can be under a great deal of stress as we are in the final stages of our preliminary education. With that being said, I highly encourage all to take part in the National Day of Unplugging.

The concept may seem silly, or even bothersome, to most people at first glance since so much of today's world is structured around the digital world. Some may feel that disconnecting from the digital realm is unrealistic as many people use services like Apple Pay for their purchases, Amazon for their shopping, or even entire smart homes controlled through apps on their phones. While these are great examples of the digital world, these are not the things that have such heavy implications on people outside in the real world.

As we immerse ourselves more and more into that setting, whether it’s through online gaming or posting, we tend to forget about the things going on around us. Many people find the digital world to be an escape from the real world. I believe that it can be; however,  just as it can be an escape, we can oftentimes find ourselves trapped there, too. As the internet has allowed for the creation of many good and beneficial things, it has also created numerous issues and difficulties for people.

The issue with being so plugged in is that we as people want to be recognized and noticed. This can be seen through common patterns of social media users, digital creators, and even more generally throughout life. We call these kinds of patterns Reward-Driven Behavior. Reward-Driven behavior can commonly be seen when a user posts a variety of different content styles, and over time, this person will begin to see which of their posts bring in more views, likes, and shares. They then begin to create similar posts to what they see bringing in that interaction. When we get a like or share on our Instagram post, our brains respond similarly to how they would respond when receiving a reward. As we immerse ourselves in that world, we become almost obsessed with getting another like or share which can lead to a person becoming overly stressed or disconnected from certain aspects of their life.

By disconnecting from it all for even just one hour more than we normally would, we often find that people see themselves improving in other parts of their lives. A doctor by the name of Lisa Strohman has been featured in The University of Nevada Las Vegas’s research into the effects of the digital world on our lives.

​Dr. Strohman says, "We have built a dependency on always being connected to our phones because now we can access the internet, our banking, our music and so, so much more. They have become our whole lives and so there is a fear to ever be without them. This fear then leads to stress as we always have a need to feel attached.”
​
Another Researcher from UNLV, Simon Gottschalk, has been quoted saying “Being on the receiving end of constant anger, stress, or other antagonistic triggers seen from immersion in the digital world can lead to toxic neurochemical reactions in the body, and unplugging can help alleviate some of this.”

As we begin to see how our personal lives can be impacted by factors within the digital world, you may find that spending time off your devices could be more helpful than previously thought.

A benefit I personally have found through disconnecting from my devices is that I experience fewer migraines than I had previously. That being said, I believe taking time to disconnect and finding ways to better yourself is something everyone should try.

See if you can find positive outcomes through disconnecting and putting time back into themselves, and March 3rd is the day to start.