Connectivity of our generation might be the cause of our stress

Amand Siefken Opinion Editor

This generation is one of obsession. 

We obsess over the smallest things, whether it is what someone else is wearing or what the latest trending topic is on twitter. Our generation loves information, and we have a mentality in which we have to get the information instantly. 

My iPhone 4 from 2011 finally gave out this last weekend, and had to be replaced with an iPhone 5c. Of course, I was not mad about getting a new phone, but after getting it all personalized, I realized how sad it is that we are all constantly plugged into the rest of the world. 

Having a phone from 2011, it was running much slower than it did three years ago, but I was patient and it never really bugged me. While I waited for my phone to load, I began to think about other things. Now, I only have time to think about what is on my phone, and once I type it, I have results. 

This world is always moving at a million miles an hour and when we do not get immediate results, we get upset. Years ago, hearing back from someone within the day was considered quick. Read receipts will be the death of our society, I am convinced. 

With apps like Snapchat and Vine, we are able to know what the person we are texting looks like at any given moment. Is it just me, or is the point of Snapchat only to send the ugliest pictures we can of ourselves to the people we trust most, hoping that they do not screenshot them and use them against us on our birthday, or taking really pretty selfies and sending them to the people we like, wanting them to think we didn’t take a half hour posing for the best picture we could.

Why did this ever become a thing? I personally do not Snapchat, nor do I use Vine. If a person wants to see me, we can hangout. I do not see the point of walking around on campus, freezing my hands off to take a picture of me in the cold. Notice: Everyone is cold when it is -22 degrees; you are not the only one. 

The fact that we are all so connected makes me want to get one of the old flip phones that can’t do all of these fancy things, but then I would miss getting emails quickly and being able to check things online. 

I guess we all fall into this instantaneous world sometimes, but maybe unplugging ourselves, or letting our phones die is not the end of the world. Previous generations did not seem to be quite as stressed as we are; maybe the stress comes from the constant need of communication from others. Slowing down and being disconnected from the Internet is not the worst thing in the world; maybe that is why the school Internet kicks us off all the time, to prove how much we really don’t need the connection. Too bad professors of online classes don’t feel this way.

Amanda Siefken is majoring in political science. She can be reached at [email protected]