Unplugged

In our generation, a majority of people have never truly been unplugged from their phones. In fact, according to the book, most of the people between the age of 18 and 44 who own a phone can't recall the last time that their phone wasn't right next to them. Do you remember the last time you turned off your phone or just left it at home?

There are 8.08 billion people in the world, and 5.61 billion of those people have phones. That is 69.4% of the population, and honestly, I thought it would be more. It seems like everyone has a phone nowadays, even elementary school kids. I did not get a phone until I was a freshman in high school, and I always felt like I was the only one in the world without a phone. Now, I can't imagine my life without one. Have time to kill before I need to go somewhere? I can just scroll through TikTok. Need to tell someone something? I can just text them instead of waiting until I see them next. Just thinking about going somewhere or doing something without your phone is daunting to most people. However, I don't mind being unplugged. If there is homework I need to get done, I will just turn off my phone, or if I am going somewhere with my family, I will just leave my phone at home.

Along with those people that have a phone, 5.35 billion people use the internet, which is 66.2% of the population. There are also 5.04 billion active social media users, 62.3% of the population. The average user spends six hours a day on the internet and two hours and 31 minutes each day on social media platforms. That ends up being roughly one waking day of a person's life every week. I would like to think I am not on social media that often, but just a little bit of time here and there can really add up in a day. It is also really easy to get distracted on my phone. Looking at one notification can turn into scrolling for an hour very easily.

There are many good things that come from having a phone and having social media, but it is also good to take a break sometimes. I think everyone should take more time to truly be unplugged.