Do you know someone who doesn’t have a phone or is not connected to a device? Now that I am asking this question, I see everybody around me holding something, even the babies have a baby phone. Amazingly, one such device gives us a world of limitless opportunities. Instant voice and video calls, messaging, access to a sea of information, listening to music, learning something, and watching a video. So many opportunities to grab our attention!
Yet, this comes at a price – we are constantly engaged with something! Every day we are bombarded with information and while we find ways to process it, disconnecting and switching off becomes very difficult. When was the last time you did it? It is difficult to see our lives without a digital device? Interestingly, now I am the person who should take proactive steps to switch off and disconnect.
Digital detox
Even at work we now have a “right to disconnect” and initiatives such as “digital detox” are on the rise. I wonder whether I would be as excited about all the gadgets if I had only known the impact. While I wonder how to detox, disconnect, and develop skills on how to process this information, I read statistics about the difference in digital literacy between cities and rural areas, between different generations, between women and men, girls and boys, and that there are places where there is no access to the internet. I can’t even comprehend that there is a digital divide and that while we are in urgent need of improving our skills and constantly upgrading them, there are parts of the world and people who do not have access to this digital world.
The competing reality between digital access and lack of access, between skills development and lack of skills, between putting the onus on me as a consumer to disconnect and companies that by upgrading products make us even more hooked to the digital world. The solution is improving regulation and while this is slowly progressing a “human rights-based technology policy” approach could be adopted by placing people at the center, assessing the human rights risks, preventing them, and remediating them, if applicable. What it means, is that if my grandparents have to access their pension online or any other service that will enhance their life, they will be trained to do it safely.
The issue with digital literacy
It upgrading your skills applies to many people. The more sophisticated the technology becomes, the more training and skills It will require to develop. But whose responsibility, is it? How do we catch up? I still have this big note on my desk saying, “using chatgpt for work” and I don’t seem to find time to start exploring this. I know I am falling behind because all day I am behind the computer and yet I need to spend more time learning and improving my digital skills. Today, I am making the decision to switch off and while my skills are paying the price, the benefits to my brain and well-being are tremendous. How about you?
Are you ready to switch off?
