English 1C, Fall 2018: Challenges of Constant Connectivity Essay

This essay, written for English 1C, explores the multifaceted challenges of constant connectivity in contemporary society. It delves into the pervasive influence of mobile devices and social media, highlighting the anxieties associated with disconnection and the potential for mobile addiction. The author analyzes the impact of these technologies on personal relationships, mental health, and the ability to focus, arguing that the constant need to be connected can lead to distraction, depression, and a diminished capacity for meaningful human interaction. The essay references statistics on social media usage and research on mental health to support its claims, ultimately advocating for a more balanced approach to technology use and the importance of prioritizing real-world connections. The author suggests that finding a balance and learning how to use technology effectively is something that has to be learned by the majority of people, especially for a younger generation.

1
English 1C
15 Sept. 2018
“The Challenges of Constant Connectivity” or
Connectively Disconnected.
In this generation, it is hard not to guess or predict what
most of the people do first thing in the morning when they wake
up. It is quite evident that the majority of people are looking
at the phone. Checking emails, texts, missed calls or social
media. It seems that this is an important task that first thing
to do when they wake up. Sometimes when I analyze myself and
observe people around me, I have to admit that we human beings
including me have become “Mobo” zombies. The need to stay
connected or the fears of missing out is both similar to each
other. The issue here is that I am not alone to realize that that
figuring how to disconnect is a concerning issues within our
modernized culture. This is because constant connectivity is just
a lame thing for individuals as it takes too much time from
irrespective family members and stresses people out. From the
constant possibility of connectivity, one of the things that is
very evident from these is that I have urge I need to make a call
a=or need to check my phone. Specifically people are having a
feeling, which they cannot feel unless they are connected with

2
other things. These are the major issues of the generation, which
is challenging the constant connectivity though disconnection.
Many times, it is seen in other people that people are
suffering from shaking syndrome when their phone rings. Most of
the time, majority of people are trying to answer and not to miss
the calls. In this aspect, I have seen that most of the people
cannot stay without having checked on their phones. To be
specific people nowadays are more connected to their phones or
virtual interface than the real life things. It is the same thing
with text messages. If an individual gets the vibration or
notification, they are constantly seen to be checking on the
phone immediately to check the message. It is a simple opinion or
common sense to choose something that is more important than the
phone. Nowadays, it has become very tough to act strong in
defying the presence of virtual things as a result people have
lost the capability to connect with self, loved ones and
important people in their life. The phone has become the biggest
distraction; it has turned in to a time killer, social addition
for people in all their toils and pains. Moreover, it has turned
in to something, due to which many people are suffering. It is
quite ironical to see people easily ignoring valuable tasks for
30 minutes while they are scrolling down pictures and reading
phrases that could take hours of their time. This issues are more

3
popular amongst the generation due to the fast of use of
technology as it makes things easy provided with a new kind of
thinking that expands the capability to reason through complex
issues in an efficient way. However, people are unable to pay
attention to the fact that while doing so, they are neglecting
their immediate and most valuable requirements.
The thing that is highly visible amongst the generation is
that tends to say, “I would rather do texting than receiving or
making a phone call.” This gives a sense of an argument that one
can have the virtual illusion of companionship without any
liabilities of friendship. It aims to show that the original
demands of friendship intimacy are quite complex which involves a
lot of understanding. Specifically it can be said that today’s
generation is passing through the time when people are using
technology to outgo and to cut down the hard parts of life. One
of the things that I have found with continuous connectivity is
the challenges to avoid the anxiety of being disconnected. The
people are living in a kind of panic. We are losing the
sentimental and emotional counterparts of livelihood, which make
American standards of living rich. Losing the way to express
individual feelings practically is equal to potentially losing
how to express ourselves.

4
I have seen that individuals are being constantly connected
and constantly distracted in real life through the social media.
Based on the statistic from Facebook there are “7.6 Billion
People on the planet and almost 3.03 Billion People are social
media users, 76% of users check Facebook daily” (oberlo.com).
Based on a Gallup poll taken in 2001, “every average person had
ten close friends, not including their relatives.” (gallup.com)
It is what Turkle pointed out about there’s this sense that you
can have the illusion of companionship without the demands of
friendship. (Turkle 520) As a result of such continued
connectivity; I have seen that there is the anxiety of
disconnection. Canadian Association of Mental Health found that
grades 7-12 students who spent over two hours a day on Social
Media reported higher depression, anxiety and suicidal thought as
young as 12 years old. (Parnell)Two hours a day spent on Social
media is a lot in real time! Anything we do this often or for so
long has a lasting effect on us. A time we could be spending
doing something good for ourselves or with our loved ones is just
spent scrolling through pictures of someone else’s life, makes
people go into depression. Psychology says that interacting with
someone through Facebook, envying friends on Facebook may lead to
depression while scrolling through others happy status updates
and exciting pictures of vacation. Today people are comparing

5
themselves with nice pictures posted by someone else; losing the
reality, they live in.
For example, social media platform, what Sapp conversation,
YouTube and other virtual interfaces that people utilizes.
Multitasking is another form of distraction. With the number of
things going on, many people want to use twenty-four hours of
their time to their fullest. It seems like it became a big
problem to devote a hundred percent of people’s attention only to
“one” thing. I see people on the road driving, eating and talking
on the phone every morning. People gather but easily can answer
text, scrolling through pictures while sitting in the restaurant
and talking with each other. The sad part is when the family get
together to connect with each other but easily get disconnected
by turning on the TV or answering the unexpected phone call. All
these examples can be evidence of how people are connected to the
unreal world around them and they are getting disconnected from
their real life connections. Along with the consistent
possibility of connectivity, one of the most important things
that I see is a subtle motion like I have a feeling and I want to
make an call and I want to scroll through picture. In other
words, I can say that people have feeling as if they cannot stop
feeling useless unless they are connected to the virtual
platform.

6
In the end, the best way to connect to the real world is by
making a choice to disconnect. With such a variety of good things
that technology rings for us, I can agree with that people misuse
it. Finding a balance and learning how to use technology to be
connected effectively is something that has to be learned by the
majority of people, especially for a younger generation.
Works Cited
Americans Satisfied With Number of Friends, Closeness of Friendships. 05 March 2004. 05 October 2018.
<https://news.gallup.com/poll/10891/americans-satisfied-number-friends-closeness-
friendships.aspx>.
Know, 60 Facebook Statistics Marketers Need to. Oberlo. 22 August 2018. 04 October 2018.
<https://www.oberlo.com/blog/facebook-statistics>.
Parnell, Baile. Is Social Media Hurting YOur Mental Health? 2018.
Turkle. "Digital Demands: The Challenges of Constant Connectivity." n.d. 520.