Look Up

The benefits and drawbacks of smartphone usage are quickly becoming a topic of much debate. Gary Turk’s video “Look Up” conveys the message that we should look up from our phone, in order to live life in the moment. It shows a world where we continue to find ways to connect with one another with a counterproductive result. Instead of connecting, this technology has us spending time alone, staring and living life through a screen. Turk opens his spoken word poem by stating, “I have 422 friends yet I am lonely. I speak to all of them every day yet none of them really know me”. This quote stood out to me, as it reveals how social media is superficial and is not ‘real life’. Prince EA’s video “Can We Auto-Correct Humanity”, however, focuses more on what social media has already done. “No wonder in a world filled with IMac’s, iPads and iPhones. So many "i" ’s, so many selfies, not enough "us" 's and "we" ’s,” EA says in his video, revealing how technology makes us selfish, anti-social. See Technology has made us more selfish and separate than ever.” EA’s message is mainly how despite smartphones, one should “be balanced, be mindful, be present, be here”. Lastly, Zosia Bielski’s article “Why it’s time to put your Smart Phone down. Seriously” discusses how smartphone usage controls our everyday life, and how it affects all our relationships: “We all do it: Slipping a phone onto the table, we put the people in front of us on pause to disappear into the vast elsewheres of our screens.” All three, however, include the message that it’s time to put down our phone and enjoy life for what it is, not sharing every single moment with ‘friends’ on social media.

I could not agree more with the writers’ messages. I do not deny technology is useful, but am still exasperated by the way it monopolizes our everyday life and human interactions. I find it pathetic how people use their smartphones in order to ‘escape’ their present, using ‘social media’ as an excuse. Social media is nothing but information we are distanced from. Whatever we see, read, listen to, we share with ourselves. We read something online, but whatever it is, we have no one to really share it with. Of course, people consider it as sharing it with someone, by pressing ‘like’, tagging them or sharing a picture with someone, but can we really call this sharing? Isn’t liking someone’s holiday pictures just a form of showing you do not care enough to talk to them in person, taking the time to listen to them, really sharing. Furthermore, I find it sad how we cannot be alone with our own thoughts anymore. A few months ago, I spent a week in Chiang Rai, the north of Thailand. My family and I woke up at 5 am to watch the sunrise from the top of the mountain. While I was sitting on the rock, at 1500m altitude contemplating the beauty of the landscape, everyone else was taking selfies, selfies with the sun. It seemed that a moment was not worth enjoying if they could not post it on social media. In retrospect, I have found that Smartphones have negatively affected many of my relationships with friends. A person can be friendly, funny, caring and charming, but if they cannot let go of their phone, I immediately ‘reject’ and think a lot less of them. Although I use my phone too and enjoy spending time on social media, I am aware of my own phone usage and try to limit it, trying to live my life in the moment. We as a society escape the present while taking in information about friends, and give nothing but a ‘like’, while the truth is, if they were our friends, we would take the time to talk to them, interact. “It’s about living life in the moment, not through a screen.” - Zosia Bielski

The messages from all three texts are that we have to start living in the moment, look up from our phone, and stop letting smartphones monopolize us, our relationships and our lives. These messages are so crucial to the world as a whole because only some people actually see the negative aspects of smartphone usage. These are crucial for the world, as what we do now affects all future generations. We, my generation, still have the ‘power’ to change something, and make the right decision. What we do, and how we will raise our children will have a ripple effect on the future, and the way our society will develop. As said in the video “Look Up”, “How do you plan on being world’s greatest dad, if you can’t even entertain a kid without an iPad.” I am not saying our future should be without technology. However, we need to be aware of the effects, since our self-worth should not be measured by the number of likes and followers one can get. Smartphones and social media cannot become a replacement for actual human interactions.

Works Cited:

Turk, Gary. “Look Up.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 9 Sep. 2015.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY>

Prince EA. "Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?" Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 29 Sep. 2014. Web. 10 Sep. 2015.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ>