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Are we starting to spend too much time online?
By David | July 21, 2007
How many times were we late for dinner, a drink or even a meeting and nevertheless got stuck at doing something online, either for work or fun? This very important thing that couldn’t wait could have been done the next day, but we get stuck, sometimes mesmerized by something happening behind a computer screen. Take Charlie Barrow, a promising young trader who got fired from Goldman Sachs because of his addiction and time spent online on Facebook. Is sitting in front of a connected computer more rewarding than sipping a glass of wine with friends on a terrace? We probably all know it isn’t, but nevertheless we stay on. As if the screen was one of these blue lights and we were mosquitoes irremediably attracted, without a chance to escape, to something that appeals to a part of us we have no control over.
It is becoming ever more insidious with mobile phones being connected. As soon as we get a chance to get away and mentally disconnect from the online world, a text alert from Twitter or an email on your Blackberry telling you someone has added you as a friend on Facebook pulls you back in. The exponential evolution of technology will definitely extend online time massively each year.
Can we start talking about addiction? I believe for certain of us we can. Is spending more time online bad? For sure no. The tools we have at our fingertips today allow us to do things that were unimaginable only 5 years ago, online social networks enable millions of people to spend more time communicating with friends and therefore extending social life notably. We just need to make sure we still have some good sense left and we can do things with measure. I lost my Blackberry in the back of a taxi in Bangkok a few months ago and was virtually offline a few hours in a row each day, not only did I survive, but it was a great experience.
Now I’ll try this nice advice on myself as I’m writing on my blog while my wife is waiting for me to drive to the mountains!
Sphere: Related ContentTopics: Facebook, Social Networks, Twitter |
