Since when have we lost all ability to control our actions? Are we so weak that the mere glimpse of a computer screen renders us helpless to its charm? Can we go even 1 hour without technology interrupting our thought processes? What have you done today to move one more step toward technology addiction?
Here are some signs that you may have a problem:
[1] You are at home. You are upstairs and your spouse is downstairs. You decide to text them instead of hollering over the banister when you need to tell them something.
[2] You find out you are expecting a child. You log onto Twitter to alert your “followers” before calling your family.
[3] Your battery in your cell phone dies and you actually start crying b/c your charger is nowhere in sight.
[4] You take the day off of work to attend a MLB game and update your status on FB at the top of every inning.
[5] You suffer from delusions of grandeur when contemplating whether you can take on Ashton Kutcher on Twitter.
[6] You can now text without even looking at the phone.
[7] You have disowned or are temporarily ignoring family members who haven’t joined FB.
[8] Google is your main source of information for EVERYTHING.
[9] You justify the hours you spend on your computer as “work”, when really you are pimping your FB page.
[10] You can’t remember the last real conversation you had, that did not involve emoticons, status updates and tagged photos.
The problem is that everything we do now always comes back to the computer. We receive communication from friends, family, co-workers and our children’s teachers and coaches via email. We join organizations, sign up for little league and donate to our church via the internet. We don’t have time to go to the mall so we window shop online and order there too.
Technology will most likely play a key role in our daily lives from here on out, but it doesn’t have to rule us. So if you find yourself being drawn into the abyss that is the internet—set a time limit, take a break and most importantly find someone you love and have a face-to-face good ol’ fashioned conversation, no keyboard necessary.
