Logged in but signed out, Lights on but no one’s in

BW&Gray - Logged In but Signed Out, lights on but no one's in

We could all give ourselves a pat on the back if spending a good chunk of our life in the virtual world was a positive sign of development, but unfortunately it is not. There couldn’t possibly be more disconnect in action (in these times of high connectivity).

An electronic screen replaces what used to be living, breathing people with emotions participating in and, interacting through emotion-based conversations. No need to rustle for proof here because it’s an infectious trend and the sickness has landed.

It’s a common observation that a great amount of children and parents’ time go into television, playing with smart phones, computer games and social media. While the seniors set aside separate ‘screen time’ which is exclusively their time, the juniors, some of them as small as two or three years remain glued to ‘the screens’ for hours in a day.

Playing computer games, watching TV shows, surfing internet and hogging space and time in social media is most commonly how the youth/adolescents spend time, ‘in front of the screen,’ again. Most times these routines go unmonitored in households and therefore the ills that are impending with them also come rushing through the doorway. The few rules in place in this regard are usually to check if the homework assigned from the schools are being done or not.

Many experts in this field have said that a child should not be exposed to any electronic media until they are safely over two years of age. This is apparently because a child’s brain develops rapidly in these years and it is obvious that they would learn better from another human not an electronic screen or screens. At the same time for others too, the hours they put into television should be kept under check.

For a large portion of the population the country though, the message would serve little use.

In many households, the elders have most often than not just allowed the idiot box as a distraction for the kids, so that they at least remain indoors and away from getting dirty or sick. Also, the seniors themselves have their personal screen time. The television set does fill in as a nanny (although it’s a poor representation of one) as toddlers remain affixed to the idiot box.

Excessive interaction through electronic media which includes mobile phones, internet and social media, it is believed starts to create an artificial reality in the virtual world where much time is spent. The dedicated users then start to be tuned to this falseness of reality. That way when such things as ‘instant gratification’ (a trait strongly induced by excess use of internet, social media and related gadgets) is not possible, in real life, it starts to impact the users very negatively.

Although there is the goodness of meeting people from across worlds and oceans, getting information and knowledge by a mere flick of a switch or a click of a button, there are equally the unwanted aspects to be factored.

People who spend too much time online, especially the younger lot tend to become detached from reality of things – this is backed by many studies.

Anything and everything shared on internet and social media is never actually deleted permanently and most times, second thoughts are too late to undo those actions, which could be something like sharing contents that are personally damaging or could be damaging for others.

Published as Column in Business Bhutan on July 18, 2015 

BW & Gray or Black, White & Gray is a column published in the Business Bhutan and solely tagged with the pieces written by this writer