The Great Technology Dilemma (Texting, Sexting and a Lost Generation)

Recently I decided to upgrade my phone from the palm centro to the palm pixi. Let me just say wow. The phone is half the size with twice the capabilities. At first it was a bit overwhelming. Verizon now forces you to buy the broadband data package when you buy a smart phone. This is not something I need by any means but the phone is incredibly sleek and I don’t have internet at my house so I figured why not? When I first started playing around with it I kept asking myself how long it would be before my lap top became obsolete. I can do literally anything on this phone that I can do with my lap top. My friend once referred to it as a "Computer-phone" and he was exactly right. It takes pictures, downloads music, uploads documents… the possibilities are endless.

Left: Palm Centro

Right: Palm Pixi

This advancement of technology has made me think a lot lately. Much like my parents can recall watching black and white TV, I will be telling my kids stories about a time before cell phones. I can already see myself saying “ I remember when I was growing up we didn’t even have texting, nevertheless the ability to search the web in the palm of our hands.” But I feel like with all this advancement there have been major consequences. I feel like I am part of a generation that thrives on instant gratification. We want things now because we are used to getting them that way. I recently took my computer in to get worked on and when they didn’t call me to tell me it was done the next day I was furious. Perhaps this has something to do with how impatient people are when they have to wait a couple minutes for me to make them coffee. Or why the women at the Verizon store were rushing to take care of customers as fast as possible so those of us in line didn’t get too upset. How long will it be before the English language drops the word patience altogether?

Beyond how needy I feel we are becoming as a society I can’t also help but feel we are becoming impersonal. Everyone hates calling tech support and other business help lines because you never get to talk to a person. This has become a complete social norm. In fact, I find it surprising when I call an 800 number and an actual human being answers the phone. Nowadays when you go to the supermarket you can forget about becoming familiar with the friendly neighborhood cashier because half the time you are using a robot instead. But my biggest pet peeve of all is texting. Sure, it was convenient for my mom to shoot me a text when she needed me to pick milk up on the way home from school. It has its purposes, but it also has its major flaws. Now when someone has a favor to ask there is no longer any need for them in interrupt my oh so busy life with an actual conversation. And I mean maybe this is just my life but it feels like whenever someone is upset with me they’d rather converse over texting then sort things out in person. Why? Because it's easier to say hurtful things through a text when you are not talking face to face? Because you can be dead honest and not have to physically watch the consequences of your words? Texting has bothered me for a long time and it's only getting worse.

There is a new controversial phenomenon deemed “sexting”. For those of you who haven't heard this term before, Wikipedia defines sexting as "the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones". The frightening part is it's most common among teenagers. Often times a young girl will send explicit photos to her boyfriend. It may seem innocent at the time, but if they get into a fight it is so easy for the boy to forward the pictures to anyone he wants. Imagine walking through the halls of high school after everyone has seen an inappropriate photograph of you. As if those teenage years weren't hard enough. In extreme cases girls have committed suicide because they could no longer handle the constant torture from kids at school. Another problem is both the girl and her boyfriend can now be charged with distributing child pornography. There are cases where young men have become registered sex offenders for their actions. It's a terrible downfall of making technology available to everyone.

With all this ranting and raving I figured I better do more than sit around and complain. So, I have decided to give up texting altogether. Yesterday I went into Verizon and had it blocked from my phone. This was a timely process as the woman didn’t understand why I would do such a thing. In this day and age who chooses to get rid of texting, especially when I have unlimited texting through my family plan? Call me crazy but I've decided to try at least one month without it.

It's been less than twenty-four hours and so far I feel completely liberated. Rather than feeling the need to constantly check my phone, I feel the exact opposite. If it's not within an arms reach at all times I am OK. I am no longer a slave to my phone as I feel so many people in my generation have become and it feels wonderful.