“You’re way too laid back with your phone Yesenia.” – Victor Moran
But that wasn’t always the case.
This week I’m coming to you in thrifted monochrome and DIY flyness to talk to you about technology, beginning with a story about my mom Auxiliadora. A few weeks ago my parents decided to switch internet providers in their home, so they discontinued service with one and waited for installation from the other. As luck would have it, on the day of their appointment, hurricane Matthew became a cause of concern for S. Florida, and so the internet had to wait another week.
For Auxiliadora? Worst two weeks ever.
While they still had cellular 4G as a stopgap, their home remained internet-less and my mother remained Facebook-less (sort of). The day her internet privileges were restored all of Facebook knew about it because her return post announced “Estoy feliz” or “I am happy”.
Internet Culture
You don’t need me to tell you that the internet, and access to all the knowledge in the world at your fingertips, is so ubiquitous people become lost when they lose service. In fact, the language perpetuates it, we can just as easily win the internet, as we can lose a wifi signal or drop a call. AT&T made a commercial parodying America’s obsession with the internet and it was way too real for many.
As distraught as my mom Auxiliadora was over losing the internet, is as indifferent as my dad Patricio was about it. He has a phone exclusively to make phone calls to my mom on his lunch break, and to listen to Nicaraguan Radio Ya. No internet meant no radio for a week, oh well.
I take after pops in many ways, and lived without internet access for over a year in my current apartment. I dreaded the day it was installed because I feared my household would transform itself from one of communication and creativity, to one where the people inside wouldn’t recognize each other without the blue glow of cell-phone lights in each others faces. But I am my mother’s daughter, and can just as easily be seduced by the like.
What is it about the internet that turns people into zombies?
Marketing
The same way that marketing evolved from psychology, the internet has produced its own branch with psychologists operating within it. When people had to leave their houses to shop, the tactics to encourage impulse buys were in the layouts. Grocery stores are the classic example. You are primed with flowers as you come in, have to walk to the back of the store for your staples like milk and eggs, then must walk back to the front to complete your purchases. In the end? Two items turns to twelve, and you wonder how the fuck you spent all that money when you were just running a quick errand.
Nowadays, being a hermit is a breeze. You can order anything and everything you want without even putting pants on. So how does the store layout psychology translate to the internet? Analytics. If you feel like your internet knows you, it’s because it does. Our internet experiences are being more and more tailored to our interests. How? By tracking your clicks, companies can see trends in their customer base. From an advertising standpoint, the use is that a company can see what type of media is engaging their target audience, and how their landing pages are performing. But what implications does this have for the customer? At any given moment there are hundreds of thousands of scripts running and collecting your data. Depending on the methods used, your searches, purchases, internet habits, and personal information are all being collected, and you’re being sorted as a consumer type. Big Data. All up in your shit.
So I’m not trying to scare you, though I mean, it’s cool if you are. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you, right? But beyond targeted advertising, how have our online worlds affected us at our most human levels?
Changes for better or worse
Our constant access to the internet produces people who are impatient, and less inclined to delve into any one topic deeply. Sure, some people fall into the Wikipedia rabbit hole of information and come out the other end an enlightened Alice, but instant gratification and quick fixes are king in the technological age. Our average attention span has dropped since the mobile revolution; to below that of a goldfish. We multi-task, get bored easily, and are more impulsive than we used to be. And while there is yet no direct link between ADHD and the internet, hyperactive behavior is definitely encouraged by it. In fact, if you’ve gotten this far into our post, I owe you a drink.
We spoke about mental health and relationships in the last few weeks on MyXXFLY, and social media has a major impact on these factors. Studies have shown how the addictive component of social media can make some people increasingly restless and unhappy. By giving everyone a platform to highlight whatever aspects of their lives they so chose, we are left with a carefully crafted image of others, and inevitably compare our situations to these sometimes fabricated lives. If we are not sucked into the negative components however, these platforms can help us stay connected with loved ones and even socially expand our horizons to communities we would otherwise not have access to.
The takeaway?
Technology, consumerism, and socialization, are inextricably linked. The internet is addictive as fuck, and if we don’t check ourselves we may surely wreck ourselves. If you’re like my momma, and two weeks without the internet feels like the end of the world, hold up a second brother. Regroup. It’s not your fault though, it’s designed to be.
So what am I supposed to do Yesenia?
Well, the internet isn’t going to change any time soon but we can control the way we navigate it and protect our personal data. It can be as easy as clearing your cookies, browsing privately, or not using free Wi-Fi. I am a culprit of both enhancing the social experience through the use of technology, and also alienating myself from others through it. I’ve clicked on the ad of that dress I looked at on ASOS but forgot about, I’ve sat in a room full of people staring at my phone instead of engaging with them, I constantly jump between tabs and tasks and grab my phone for one thing, then put it down, and remember I didn’t do the thing I grabbed the phone to do in the first place. However, this doesn’t have to be the norm.
Be weary of the wondrous internet. Used effectively as an enhancer of the human experience it literally becomes a fountain of eternal knowledge and possibility at your fingertips. But like any other drug, be careful how you use it, and be aware of what you’re compromising when you do. Your internet search patterns are as predictable as you are my dear human, be aware that you are being monitored and there are people whose job it is to find out what makes you tick, and what makes you click. Be mindful with your internet. Notice when you use it, when you over use it, when you get lost in it, when you overspend on it. Don’t just dismiss your behaviors. Evaluate the motivation, the why behind the action. Don’t neglect the vibrant world around you for the expansive and neat one that lives in your pocket or on your desktop, beyond the glass and plastic. Until next week, live in technicolor, go incognito, be aware of the mega machine, and keep your double-x fly.
