It’s almost impossible to spend time with people nowadays without somebody glancing at their phone every few minutes. Whether they’re constantly checking for new notifications to come in or they’re simply bored of everyone around them, it seems as though people have become inseparable from their smartphones.
I see it on campus, off-campus and even when I’m with my closest friends. It seems people don’t know how to enjoy each other’s company anymore without bringing technology along as a plus-one.
Even worse, people don’t know how to spend time alone. Many of us are guilty of lying in bed and going through “the rotation.” You know what I’m talking about: You go check one social network, see that there is no new information for you to consume, close the app, switch to another, rinse and repeat.
We’ve become a society that constantly craves some sort of stimulation, usually satisfying that craving by scrolling through Instagram and Twitter for several hours until deciding that it is time to give your poor, weary eyes the rest of the night off.
With the rise of technology came the decline of literature. Next time you’re in a common area on campus, take note of how many people are on their phones versus how many people are reading books. Chances are the difference will be a dramatic one.
Not many people read for leisure anymore.
“I personally am not interested in many books that I can’t consume in other forms of media or entertainment, like movies,” Georgia StateU sophomore Kyle Toliver said. “I would rather just receive it in another way.”
Toliver makes a good point: We live in a society that is heavily focused on convenience and how quickly you can get something done while exerting the least amount of effort. This is evident with services like Amazon Prime, Uber Eats and Venmo. They’re all about catering to the needs of their consumers efficiently, promoting a culture that expects instant gratification.
This fast-paced way of life that we’re all so accustomed to is the exact opposite of what it’s like to read a book. It can take a while to get into a story, or the words can be difficult to understand. Ultimately, it’s a tedious activity, and we are impatient people.
However, in opting to fill all of our free time with screen time, we miss out on a lot of opportunities with which reading presents us. You can expand your vocabulary, become more informed about a specific topic, use your imagination and find inspiration.
There is so much to gain from reading that we often forget about. Reading satisfies many of the same cravings that we tend to look to social media to fulfill: It gets you out of your head and into a different world, it passes plenty of time with ease and it provides you with new ideas and information.
I encourage you to challenge yourself sometime soon to swap your phone for a book during your downtime. You just might enjoy it.
