'The Digital Detox countermovement advocated for a regular “digital detox” regimen to preserve one’s mental and physical well-being'

Digital Detox | The Countermovement ❤️

In her popular book titled, Digital Detox: Why Taking a Break from Technology Can Improve Your Well-Being by Bernadette H. Schell, details on the concept of Digital Detox!

Excerpts from the Preface to her Book for us all -

The Internet that we rely on today had its origin in 1969, when it was created by the U.S. Department of Defense as a digital communications experiment linking hundreds of defense contractors, universities, and research laboratories.

This powerful computer network, under the jurisdiction of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), allowed highly trained artificial intelligence (AI) researchers in dispersed geographic locations to transmit and exchange critical information with incredible speed.

The purpose of ARPA was to keep U.S. citizens safe, especially in times of crisis or war.

There is little question that the Internet has brought many conveniences to modern-day online users, such as paying bills without leaving home, playing online games with netizens close by or around the globe, surfing the Net to catch up on the latest breaking news, watching one’s favorite television series for the last five seasons all in one sitting, communicating with others in social networks for relationship maintenance or relationship building, and completing a university degree in any country around the world without leaving one’s armchair.

It is not surprising, therefore, that by 2017, over 50% of the world’s citizens were reportedly using the Internet daily, 37% were actively using social media, and 66% owned a smartphone… and a Nielsen report released in 2018 found that American adults logged a total of 11 hours of screen time daily.

Consequently, digital device and app makers - including Apple, Samsung, Facebook, and Instagram - have recently begun rolling out new features to help users track and limit their usage in an effort to reduce their risk for Internet and digital device.

Since about 1995, when U.S. mental health practitioners such as Dr. Kimberly Young began to discuss the worrisome prevalence of Internet addiction (IAD) among online users, researchers across a number of disciplines have documented the negative effects associated with Internet overuse. IAD, for example, has been linked to the following manifestations of poor mental and behavioral health in users:

• anxiety, depression, and stress;

• a lack of productivity at work or a lack of academic performance at school;

• reduced real-world social interactions versus an obsession with online interactions; and

• severe mental health problems, including suicide ideation or attempts.

Given these concerning findings, by about 2016, a countermovement to digital device overuse and addiction began to surface in Europe and globally soon thereafter.

In its various forms, the countermovement became known for including individuals who vociferously advocated for a regular “digital detox” regimen to preserve one’s mental and physical well-being.

Generally speaking, digital detox refers to a period of time when an individual consciously decides to not go online or use connected devices. Depending on the protocol followed for such a digital cleansing, the selfdefined abstinence period can last from less than an hour to indefinitely.

Time away from the digital world is generally seen as an opportunity to “become whole” again by focusing on previously enjoyed off-line activities, such as socializing with family and friends, focusing on work or school activities without digital devices, or simply relaxing.

So yes! Are you game for a digital detox? Write to me at rufus@mcc.edu.in if you intend to try out a daily ‘eight-hour digital detox’ resolve.

And wait! If you wish to opt for a Digital Detox, I shall send you a list of Do’s and Don’ts on how to creatively engage yourself during the digital detox time. I’ve decided to have a Digital Detox from 10 pm to 6 am everyday! Hope it works out! 😉

And if you’re successful at Digital Detox for at least a duration of three months, hey presto! Congratulations! you are a real high flyer! I would also like to interview you on your tryst with your Digital Detox time, after your Detox time is up!

Here’s wishing you the best in your try on your tryst with the DDC! - The Digital Detox Countermovement! 😊

Wish me godspeed as well dear reader! 🙏😊