Why We Need To Put Down Out Devices

This writing peice describes my concern on how dependent many seem to have become on their digital devices. We become so absorbed that we do not notice what is going on around us.

Why We Need To Put Down Our Devices. By: Abigail Ryan

This past year I have been watching coverage of the 2016 presidential election through various news media outlets. Such as CNN, BBC, NBC, ABC and FOX News channels, as well as reading about the election through other outlets such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and so on. I was able to form my own coherent opinion on the election and the candidates because I took in the information that I was reading, hearing, and seeing and I took points from as many of them as I could. Both positive and negative points on both candidates and their campaigns. When I would go to other websites such as teen vogue dot com, I could see that they also had coverage on the election and that their information was fairly accurate. Seventeen magazine also had accurate information on the election. However I noticed that Teen Vogue and Seventeen were mostly writing in a style to appeal to the demographic of young women or even women in there early 20’s.

I continued to watch as many young men and women in there early to mid twenties ( my age group) were being interviewed or asked about their opinion, many of them seemed to only get their information through social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. I talked about the election and events surrounding the election with members of my family. Talking to them and listening to their opinions on the events was also a good experience as it allowed me to see it through their eyes when I may not have seen the point they were trying to make.

Many people have multiple social media accounts, the most common being Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I only have a Facebook account, many people want to have social media accounts to stay connected with friends or family. While many of these sites do make sure that news stories are available to the public many of them are only seen as you scroll through your page looking at what your friends have posted, what pages that you have liked have posted, or what is recommended for you. As a result much of the information is limited. Much of the sources are genuine and the information is recent. However many do not click on the link to read the full article. They read what they see and take it as news.

This has happened before and is continuing to happen all around the country. We as a generation have to stop paying so much attention to social media and stop living on our devices. I myself have had to be told to put my phone down. After being told this multiple times, this is what I have done. I only check social media twice a day to four times a day. Many others are paying more attention to their phones than their friends, or their loved ones. More interested in what is on social media. If we want the next generation to see the best of what our country has to offer, put down your phone, your tablets, close your laptops.

Opportunities are passing us by the more we are on our phones, or our tablets. We could be experiencing the best of what life has to give us rather then watching others experience them. I want to make as many memories as I can with my family and friends. Because eventually we all get older and the opportunities to get together may not come as often as we would like. Life is a one way ticket, no one makes it out alive. We all will die that is a fact that we all know. Why not make as many happy memories as we can? I have had the pleasure to know two great-grandparents as well as all of my grandparents. My family are continuing to make memories with them that they will have after they are gone.

Many of these memories we may post to social media, but we post it so other family members who may have not been their can see. They are not posted for likes and share, or for like and retweets. What this generation is now reacting to is the election. The best way to react is to get off our devices and move! To work even harder in our schoolwork, internships, jobs. To push ourselves further than even we thought possible. To show the older and younger generations that we will not let this set us back. No more protesting, no more petitions, what is done is done. We as a country have to show the rest of the world that even though we are shaken by what has happened we are learning form it and improving. That we are putting down our devices, one person at a time, a few minutes at a time.