Are we worried about the time we spend online? Should we take heed of warnings by media reports and popular articles that put the sole blame of an anxious and depressed society onto a small gadget? Are we losing the art of conversation? Will our children become addicted? Are we running out of time to do everything else?
Well, if you have been following me for a while you will know that I generally shy away from these alarmist headlines. Firstly, the research and data is never convincing. And secondly, I don’t believe it does us any good to just focus on the negative aspects of a digital world. After all, it is most certainly here to stay, so let’s focus on ways we can work with it, rather than constantly pushing back against it.
But of course, there are certainly concerns we need to address and challenges we need to tackle. Given we now have iOS updates that allow us to track our time online, and we are given the option of setting time limits for certain apps and our access is shut down when a quota is met, this certainly suggests there is a feeling amongst us, that we have a problem.
Tags: attention • critical thinking • Cyberbullying • Digital Trends • online addiction • Online Behaviour • online intention • Online Safety • Selfies & Sexting • Social Networking Sites • Understanding their world