Are We Too Plugged In?

Last year I made a mini zine based around the fact that I miss the vibes and aesthetic of the early 2000's, 80's, and 90's, but then I started to think more about it and why, and I think it had to do with the fact that technology wasn't everywhere, and if it was it was special and different. Now we are too “Plugged In” as a society, and I think it's really negatively affected us. 

I know I'll sound like a hypocrite, especially since I'm posting this on the internet, and there will be many many people who disagree with me, but I just wanted to get on here and yap. Have people sit and think. There's probably so much I could say about this topic, but I'll try to make my points make sense. Obviously, yes, there's benefits, but I personally think there are too many negatives. So don't take this too seriously, it's just kind of a rant.

Intro: What do I mean by the title?

We have everything at our fingertips, in our pockets, screens are everywhere, and I mean everywhere…why is there a screen that big in cars and on your damn refrigerator? The refrigerator? Did we run out of ideas on how to make things safer or last longer, and now we’ve resorted to distracting with large shiny screens?

I started to really think deeply about all of this when that Microsoft system crash happened, and so many businesses didn't know what to do, airports were grounded, and just overall chaos ensued. Do we not have paper backups? Books? Are we that reliant on one single company? I don't run an airport, I don't know how that works, but that was just a few hours or days, imagine if a nationwide blackout happened. We'd be screwed since everything is online! Banking, reservations, tickets, food. Whether it's a big deal or small, it's all online, and most likely not backed up anywhere other than the cloud, and everyone, me included, has fallen victim to this.

While the internet is such a useful tool for spreading information, promoting businesses and ideas, connecting with others all over, getting inspiration…it's kind of oversaturated and toxic, and it always has been, but probably more so now. It’s less fun, but, I'll come back to that.

There’s no free third spaces to really go to with friends, or your kids. Kids and teens, and even adults, have become increasingly disrespectful, some won't calm down if they aren't given instant satisfaction or a screen. Like what happened to drawing on the menus as a kid in restaurants, some even had little trivia card games to play while you waited. But now many are so disruptive and unable to act properly in public that there are curfews being enacted in large chain stores and places like movie theaters and restaurants, which in a way is nice for those who are respectable, but it just takes yet another place away and causes people to go back online.

Everyone tends to just resort to technology because it's unfortunately cheaper and more convenient. Everything is right there for you; games, videos, communication. However there’s so many things wrong with that. What happened to being bored? Looking at your surroundings? I feel like we take a lot of things for granted, a lot of things are being lost, by advancing technology (except for medically, medical advancements are great), we are regressing as humans.

I mean really when was the last time you saw someone, specifically a kid, in public that wasn’t glued to the screen of their brand new Iphone? And I know it’s all about parenting styles and environments, maybe ADHD, and I'm not trying to be judgemental, everyone has their own reasons, but having screens everywhere and so accessible is definitely an issue. This isn't new either, it's been around for a long time. Still you weren't able to bring your box TV out with you, or have access to everything in the palm of your hand whenever you got slightly bored. I'm obviously not a person who's never on their phone, but I feel like I'm on it significantly less than most, and wish I could almost completely. I think I would be just fine, heal and benefit from a lack of screen time, but then I’d be missing out on events, communication with friends far away, and would have no idea what is going on in the world.

I wish there were more places to go spend my free time at, easier ways to connect with people instead of through text, that kids weren't addicted to screens at the ripe age of 5. It's sad. I see all these pictures, retro movies, where there wasn’t a phone insight (and if there were phones or computers it was minimal; texting/calling or email).

“Anyone else feeling nostalgia over an Era they didn't even live through ?”

Part 1: I long for the 90s and early 2000s

“Born in the 70's....being a child in the 80's and a teenager in the 90's was a big gift... unforgettable times,”

At least the vibes I get based off of movies and shows? The memories in my head. There seemed to be more community, interesting art and fashion, more hobbies and enjoyment of activities, and socializing. Malls and parks were popular, and more people in general were out of their houses. I love looking at old magazines, replaying reality shows from the 90’s and early 2000’s, if I can’t sleep I’ll find a playlist of nostalgic instrumentals from those decades (or at least ones that mimic the feeling). There was an air of relatability. We watched the same shows and commercials, listened to similar music, went to the movies or rented them, you could get your hands on physical media and keep it forever. You had to experience things in the moment or pray you were able to record or someone else did.

Things just felt real. The connection we had to each other was real.

The internet wasn’t too big and social media was fun (not just used for influencers and celebrities and drop shipping). There were noticeable trends in fashion, and ones you can duplicate now, brands had more creativity and style (I will never forgive the minimalism trend switch…at my local mall I can still see the original Hollister Beach Hut, now abandoned, and it makes me sad walking past the new store). I remember more of what my friends were wearing when I was in Elementary school than I do from highschool. The clothes were so bright and unique, accessories were fun (if not cringey at times), but you were able to have fun, able to be a kid…and I really just don’t see kids being kids now. They’re all obsessed with looking like young adults, buying expensive makeups, social media and trends. There were trends when I was a kid, but I feel like they still showed we were kids. 

“I was 10 years old in 1994, and I can confidently say that life in the 90s was a whirlwind of excitement and wonder. Every day felt meaningful, and there was a palpable sense of joy in the air. Kids played outside until the streetlights came on, filling the neighborhoods with laughter and adventure. I had the unique experience of growing up between the electrifying buzz of New York City and the tranquil beauty of North Carolina, truly getting the best of both worlds.

“The 90s were an absolute thrill ride. I remember the sheer exhilaration of playing on my Super Nintendo, then leveling up to the groundbreaking PlayStation 1. Action heroes like Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis lit up our screens, making every movie night an event to remember. Friday nights were legendary – we'd head to Blockbuster to rent the latest movies and games, then gather with friends and family for evenings filled with fun and laughter.

“From the iconic sounds of dial-up internet to the magic of discovering new music on a mixtape, the 90s were a time of endless possibilities and boundless excitement. Growing up in this incredible decade was a true adventure, one filled with memories that will last a lifetime,”

I think I just miss that feeling, that simple feeling of being a kid. Socializing at school, going to the pool or bowling, running around town on the playgrounds and my bike, watching TV with my brother on summer mornings and borrowing the same DVD’s over and over from the library. I had time to read book after book, draw and write. I had time to just explore the ideas in my brain, and connect with peers over silly YouTube videos and crafts.  And then everyone else around me started to get smartphones and social media, and there was this pressure to get social media to stay connected with them and what was going on. Fit in or get left behind…but I never really got hooked onto social media or posting or keeping up with trends…but I’ll get to that later…

“I was born in 1984. I remember when our devices were optional, when TVs were furniture and when you had to stand near the phone to use it. 24/7 connection was unnecessary; if people wanted to find you, they either looked or knew where you were. We remembered numbers. We earned our information the hard way, by seeking it out in books and magazines,”

I miss flip phones and sliders. I miss my first phone, which was my moms old one, I couldn’t really do anything but text or call, but it’s remained my favorite. I think a lot about how much you can take real connection for granted. If you can just text whenever, video call, would you get to the point where you want to go out for 10 minutes to catch up? When all my friends were getting phones and social media, and I didn’t, I felt really left out. They’d have big group chats and nights they played video games and called, but I never could get behind that, I liked my books and writing stories. I wanted to have big hangouts, go places, not be stuck playing video games. I never felt really connected to people unless I could actually be around them, feel and hear their emotions, see their reactions.

I guess I miss when phones were used for quick communication, and then later you’d see your friends. Obviously people are more busy, and things are more expensive, so circumstances have changed, but god do I wish we could just put the social media away, put the texts away, and really just hang out and socialize. But, I think I just crave human connection since I was always left out of group chats and got to social media too late.

Another thing I don’t think people really understand is that before smartphones, if you wanted to take pictures or share moments you had to take the time to get a camera and capture them, and even then you had to be thoughtful on what you’d use your film for…or be prepared to buy more film. Then you had to go get them developed or printed and make a little scrapbook or christmas card, or just keep them safe (I want to have time to make scrapbooks or have a little family or friends to make christmas cards with). Memories were more cherished (if anything modern technology has made this better with the cloud because you’ll have back ups if anything happens –fires, flooding, moving). You had to put some thought into what you wanted to capture or write on the back. Now there’s pictures of everything and anything, there’s constantly pictures being uploaded, and most are manufactured for social media, made to look good, perfect and flawless. My favorite types of pictures are ones taken in the moment. Give me grainy blurry photos, candid photos, ones that are smudged and loved. And again social media and the internet has really made these seem less valuable. Pump out content, get views, and the algorithms push out only the highest camera quality, instead of the quality of love and passion put in something. There’s almost too much to. Whether people genuinely like art and enjoy making it, or people want to be influencers, or just need to make extra money on the side…photography just feels so undervalued now. It must be perfect or it’s worthless, when really it’s all about conveying emotion and sharing stories and moments…And not everything needs to be documented 24/7.

I miss magazines and print media. Physical media. You couldn’t get everything instantly, and not everything was accessible or able to be tracked. If you wanted movies or books you could go to the theater or bookstore or library, meet people and talk to others. It wasn’t so weird, or at least didn’t seem like it would be. I have always preferred having a physical copy of something; books, movies, pictures. Also what happened to writing letters? Cutting out writings and articles in the paper? I feel like when more things were physically printed we cared about them more and for longer, got more excited. I do however love seeing people’s art and writings online, seeing the resurgence of print media and love for writing (even if some is questionable), it’s just about filtering your likes and what is worth your time, everyone’s tastes are different. And now everyone’s stuff can reach a target audience and their thoughts can be spoken on and discussed, which is cool especially if you live in a small rural area and wouldn’t otherwise meet people or see art and similar interests you have with others.

I mean, Yes the internet is good to meet new people and keep in touch, find new music and hobbies, reconnect, but sometimes it's too much to keep up with, it's overwhelming, and not natural. It’s used as a distraction, and I am just as guilty of this. It’s like I fell into a pattern, an addiction, and one that is so hard to get out of.  I think this has More so been a rant of me being nostalgic for a time in my life when I wasn't so addicted to technology, to feeling left out from social media cause that wasn't a thing. I think I'm mad that I fell victim to this trap, but if I didn't I would be out of the loop, have no one to talk to, not understand trends, and I think that's what makes me upset. That we are so reliant on technology to share our thoughts, meet like minds, and explore our interests. I don’t know…

“Man.... how time flies... I remember vividly the aura of the 90's. The wind blowing, the taste, the feeling I had at the time; it was magical to say the least. Weird times we are living in now. Bt you know what? I'm EXTREMELY grateful for the internet, despite the negatives. The internet has allowed me and others to be able to find nostalgic music, and also people here in the comment section to connect and reminisce about the good ol' days as the older folks would say,”

Short form content is destroying attention spans as well as creativity, since everything now is for clicks and content. I couldn’t tell you a single trend from a year ago, but I remember the 2010's vividly. That was for clicks and content, but it felt more fun, more individualistic and creative.

Part 2: People need to interact with other people! Socialization is a skill and necessity.

The more we resort to texting and calling, rely on technology, the harder it is to form real life bonds and gain social skills...it isolates you. This is so apparent in children and the youth (especially after Covid), I mean it is in everyone, let’s be honest, but it’s so scary to see in kids. They don’t know how to interact with each other let alone adults, they’re constantly being overstimulated with screens and noise, they can’t regulate their emotions without a screen, they act more grown than they are. Why is this?

What happened to computer labs? Getting the ipads as a treat for good grades in the class? Almost every grade now uses chromebooks and ipads (at least around me). Elementary students all get their own Ipad or Laptop. What happened to the wipe boards or overheads, the smartboards? Not every kid needs their own device. They know how to text and type before they can write or read, and they are performing at worse rates than ever…but god forbid you take their screen away at 8 years old because they’ll throw a tantrum or scream at you. Yes, this is the parents fault, but when they constantly have to work or are exhausted they just give their kids a screen and it shouldn’t be like this, but it's so normalized unfortunately. And it’s scary to think what they are getting into on the internet. It’s always been unrestricted and you can find almost anything, but little little kids are going on the internet and social media way sooner than they should. If anything you kid should get to watch a few low stimulating shows and play like Mario Kart…not listening to profanity in music and wanting drunk elephant at 8.

Now almost everything requires an internet connection. Everything is online, even if it’s not something you would need internet for. Nothing works without it! You can see anything and everything happening all at once. You see perfectly curated feeds on social media and constant tragedies and affairs on the news. We weren't meant to see so much information at the same time. It really messes with your head, and once you're addicted to that blue light and constant stimulation, it’s so hard to get away from, especially if your habits are formed at a young age when your brain is still developing.

“Life was better back then [because like you mentioned], people were easier to deal with but I believe the 90s while having been born in 1994 myself were better because we weren’t as connected as now but when we connected it felt like joy. We got together to watch movies, which is better than doing streaming from a distance for the same movie. Music was better. People put their heart into it (I don’t see that anymore, just my personal opinion). The economy was better, buying a house was easier, jobs were plentiful, stock market soared. People built relationships unlike now where our instant gratification culture has made relationships mostly a thing of the past for far too many. Going to the movies was an event unlike today. I went to see Deadpool recently and I didn’t feel the excitement that you did back then for movies,”

Not every kid, teen, or adult is obsessed with technology, but enough are to the point it’s scary to think of the meltdowns that would occur if anything were to happen to the internet. How many of your hobbies, connections and community, sources of income, would be gone in the blink of an eye? Would you be able to cope? Live in a world of no technology? Would our society function?

“In the 1980s reality split into two branches and we ended up in the wrong future,”

Part 3: I hate AI!!!

I could talk about how much I despise AI for hours! And I’m not talking about the systems that keep our laptops and phones functioning, I’m talking about the chatbots, image generators, self driving cars! All the things that are taking away from actual arts and hobbies, connection, and reality. You can't be sure what is real or fake, and it’s getting increasingly more difficult. AI generated profiles have flooded the internet, chatbots are looked to for instant support and a way to communicate with something when everyone has become increasingly more isolated. It isn’t healthy, but it’s there, and people will use it. Chat bots are concerning and only get worse as they develop and become more real and lifelike, only for the fact that they take away the need for people to text real people and go out for a few minutes (I don’t know how true this is, and it’s not like it’s new because dating sims and otome games have been around forever, but I guess it’s just more mainstream now) and form real connections and relationships. We isolate ourselves as a society this way and start to form less community and sincere connections.

AI is used to make quick art, generate stories, and this is what makes me the most mad. It takes away from people with actual talent in the arts. Actual people with a passion for painting, writing, making music and poetry. People who have real talents and gifts. Why would big corporations pay a real person for their passion when they can make a program do it for free? Our feeds are littered with AI art or “artists” posing and oversaturating the market with their AI generated slop. It’s disgusting. A lot of people's time and effort goes unappreciated or undervalued when a program can do it in a few minutes. We should be trying to protect the arts, it’s a way to share emotions and ideas, inner thoughts and expression. Yes, you can have a program generate you products to sell for a quick buck, but then you take away money that could be going to someone who hand made their art. And it’s the worst seeing it happen to the writing and publishing side of the arts. Why take years to craft your perfect novel, go through draft after draft, when someone could just use chat gpt and write the same generated slop and oversaturate the market.

“I want AI to do my taxes, fold my clothes, do my laundry. NOT take away creativity from people. Also I don't want ANY of it if it actively hurts our planet like it currently does,”

As someone who has always loved the arts and still does, seeing all the AI generated and quickly made items take over, It’s like some bad dream you can’t wake up from because it’s only going to get worse. And is this because we are too plugged into our devices? Or is it because we let technology go too far? When does society step back and see that this access of unneeded technology only divides us more, and numbs creativity and connection?

Conclusion: Are We Too Accessible?

I hope all of this made sense, but really this was kind of just a deep dive into my thoughts on technology and nostalgia. Have we gone too far with technology and the internet? What or when did we reach the perfect balance? Please share your thoughts in the comments down below. Thank you for listening to this yap session!

I have many more to make, my brain is a mess :)