A day without Facebook can lead to feelings of isolation, cravings and sensations similar to quitting drugs cold turkey, according to a new study, underscoring how integral social networks have become in daily life.
Students in 10 countries had to switch off their digital media for 24 hours for the study. Mobile phones, computers and television were all banned. The results weren't pretty.
"I was itching, like a crackhead, because I could not use my phone," said one participant from the United States. A Slovakian said, "I felt sad, lonely and depressed," while a Chilean student reported, "It was a difficult day… a horrible day."
The lack of Facebook hit hardest. "It was amazing to me though how easily programmed my fingers were to instantly start typing "f-a-c-e" in the search bar," said a U.S. participant. "It's now muscle memory, or instinctual, to log into Facebook as the first step of Internet browsing."
The researchers discovered that nearly four out of five students in the survey reported adverse reactions from their day without technology. Nineteen percent said they had feelings of distress and 11 percent felt isolated. Many students took their phones with them just to touch them. "My phone is my only source of comfort," one U.S. student said.
The results suggest that the "total connectivity" many people now experience on a daily basis is a hard habit to kick, and kids who have grown up submerged in that lifestyle are probably most deeply affected. Social relationships are so deeply intertwined with tech-centered practices like texting and social networking that to remove the tools that facilitate it causes isolation and distress.
On the one hand, it could be expected to feel isolated when one is cut off from the "normal" flow of social information. On the other, the anxieties reported by the students do suggest that simply being alone is becoming a lost art, and that could have consequences for people's ability to think over complex problems and function creatively in the future. It's hard to do those things if interrupted every few seconds by one social stimulus or another.
"Technology provides the social network for young people today and they have spent their entire lives being "plugged in," said lead researcher Susan Moeller. "Some said they wanted to go without technology for a while but they could not as they could be ostracized by their friends."
The survey, entitled "The World Unplugged," showed little difference between students in wealthy countries such as the United States and Britain and poorer ones like Uganda and China.
"I'd actually recommend anyone take part in the challenge, as it heightens your awareness to how much we as people rely on media for so many things," said a British student.
Some people agree. The idea of a
"tech fast" is becoming more popular as individuals and families tune out technology to focus on face-to-face relationships, for greater or lesser periods of time.
The study, conducted by the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda and the University of Maryland, surveyed hundreds of students.
