The Cost of Always Being Connected
Reachability is the greatest and worst thing that has come from the internet. The constant barrage of messages and emails is the double-edged sword of the modern day.
I have always considered myself an optimistic person about technology. The internet has brought so much good. We can exchange ideas and knowledge quicker than anyone ever before, but it’s so exhausting.
“Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari describes this phenomenon as the equivalent of a fire hose of information constantly being fired at us.
According to a 2007 scientific study, the average amount of information a person receives a day would equate to 174 newspapers. Now imagine what that would look like almost 20 years later with even further advanced technology.
This overwhelming amount of information is even harder to avoid when you realize much of your day is spent online. According to “Stolen Focus”, an average person touches their phone 2,617 times a day.
But it’s socially impossible to not be checking your phone. In a world that expects 24/7 digital availability, consistently checking your notifications is a bare minimum.
According to a 2023 study by the American Psychological Association, the average person received 65-90 notifications a day. That means at least 65 times of checking your phone and responding to notifications.
This expectation is even harder to balance when you add the need to constantly be productive. With the rise of mobile phones, work stays with you at whatever time and wherever you go.
Every student has experienced working hard on a paper just to receive an urgent text or email that makes you stop and respond. According to studies, the average college student switches tasks every 65 seconds.
And these stops don’t come without a consequence. According to “Stolen Focus”, constantly switching between tasks causes you to become slower, make more mistakes, be less creative, and remember less of what you did.
This distraction causes long-term memory issues. According to a study commissioned by Hewlett-Packard, technological distraction, including emails and calls, caused office workers’ IQs to drop an average of ten points.
So where is the limit on our ever-accelerating online society?
According to data scientist Sune Lehamann, we are reaching it soon
“We’ve been accelerating for a very long time, and for sure, we are getting closer to whatever limits we have,” said Sune when interviewed by Hari. The acceleration “can’t continue indefinitely. There’s some physical limit to how fast things can move. It must stop at some point. But I don’t see any slowing down right now”.
And the sad thing is, do any of us?
Adrihanna Speaks 