Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, laptops, iPads and especially smartphones, plague Elon's campus 24/7. Even naming some of these different forms of technology is overwhelming. Its exponential rise in the last 10 years has been well- recognized and documented but with the great rise of technology, there is a great fall of personal interaction to counter it.
Society, especially college life, has become too wired. To your left, there will be a group of people texting, to your right, another group surfing the Web on their laptops. There never seems to be an end to cases of people being too wired to notice their friends, much less their surroundings.
It is a normal sight to see two friends walking side by side, each paying attention to a phone instead of talking to each other. Yes, it is nice that a phone can link you to all of your Facebook friends and Twitter followers, except for the person walking beside. The person you're supposed to be spending time with.
It is easy to list the positives of technology as it aims to make life easier, but at a certain point, enough is enough, especially when it results in neglect and avoidance.
In South Korea last year, a couple was too busy raising a virtual baby at an Internet cafe to take care of their real three-month old daughter at home. She starved to death. Police later reported the parents had lost the will to live after losing their jobs and having their daughter prematurely.
While extreme, this example shows just how much people use technology to escape their personal lives. This could be a relief temporarily, but after a certain degree, it is time to return to the real world, and yes, that includes resisting the urge to text while you wait for your friend to walk through Moseley Center.
Having the urge to be completely wired has created a sense of competition over who has the better equipment. Last week, complaints over the lack of an iPhone5 and the benefits and pitfalls of the iPhone4S blew up newsfeeds. Why is it necessary to upgrade one of the most already upgraded phones on the planet? Here's some advice: save your money and hold off a couple years to get another phone. You'll be able to survive after the initial shock of not owning the latest Apple gadget.
The next time you pick up your phone or laptop, think to yourself, "Do I really need to check Facebook again? Do I really need to text someone because I'm walking alone on Young Commons?"
No, you don't. #downwithhashtags.