What Does It Mean for You to Come of Age in a Hyper-Online, Always-Connected World?

By Leslie Quan

Disclaimer: This article is not sponsored by Her Campus or Pocket.

I wrote this as part of a writing contest, called The Future Connection, presented by Her Campus and Pocket. This essay was reviewed by a panel of expert judges, including Mozilla CMO Lindsey Shepard and Her Campus Media co-founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Kaplan Lewis.

I think I need a chiropractor.

After watching TV for 2 hours, I’ve doomed myself to swiping through Instagram stories and scrolling through the endless timeline on Twitter. All of this occurring as I lay sideways with my hand stretched out an arms-length away from my face. My spine is screaming for some sort of relief soon but it all lasts longer than I’m willing to admit.

It’s almost robotic. When I wake up in the morning, I reach for my phone. Before I go to bed at night, I reach for my phone. The content on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube always seems the same day after day, yet I want to see it. Why?

The accessibility of the internet along with social media has completely robbed me of my time to explore my interests outside of my digital devices. While boredom always seems to be looming, the boredom I experience is only constructed by what the internet has to offer. If my favorite YouTuber didn’t post this week, then I’m bored. If nothing interesting is happening on Twitter, then I’m bored.

Although boredom can be a side effect of constant internet use, I can admit that sometimes I’m slightly entertained by what it has conjured up for me. Unfortunately, moments of slight entertainment hardly add up to complete satisfaction.

With just a few clicks, I can learn and look up anything I could possibly think of. However, I’m a slave to comparing myself to others. If I want to feel like an anchor sinking into the pits of my own financial despair, a quick trip to LinkedIn will do the trick. If I want to feel like a smudge on a pristine glass door, a brisk scroll through Instagram wouldn’t hurt at all.

The guilt of wasting away on the internet is quite overbearing. Knowing that there is a whole other world, a real world, outside of my screen feels like a punch in the gut. I could be exploring my neighborhood or hanging out with an old friend. Yet here I am, contemplating the things I want to do but understating their worth because my world has now condensed into a screen no bigger than the size of my hand.

There is a sense of control that seems to be lost as I continue to navigate this “hyper-online, always-connected world.” Whether I’m trying to prove my worth on social media or convince my followers that my blog posts are worth the read, it seems like I’m no longer in the driver’s seat. My goals are directed towards how it will make others feel, not how it makes me feel.

Maybe this is a new culture that I have yet to fully commit to. But until the internet has convinced me that my time is better spent on my phone, I think I need to stop straining my back twice a day for the sake of being on social media and finally give that chiropractor a call.