A cone collar similar to Elizabethan collar or E-collar was next shown onscreen. With the guard worn around the necks, men and women were prevented from reading or viewing their electronic devices. Compelled to redirect their attention to the people around them, they made eye contact.
That was a video created by Coca-Cola for humor. In a sense, a cone collar guard might be a good way to help solve the problem of social media addiction and get people back to social interaction in the real world. However, for practical reasons, we wouldn’t wear such a guard just to disconnect to connect, unplug, and detox to avoid addiction or obsession. What we need is a solution that helps us break free from our dependency and regain control.
Too often, we have been guilty of spending too much time staying digitally connected, listening, reading, viewing, writing or updating our various social network accounts. We woo people to like, follow, and join our social media pages, blogs and sites, and to add us as friends. We post videos, pictures and text to attract attention and to draw the crowd.
Spending time online is nothing wrong, but spending too much of our time online is. If we are neglecting or missing out the more important things in life because of time spent online, we need help. Whether we are using a computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone or another device to connect to the Internet, we need to stamp down addiction or obsession. A good practice and alternative solution to the collar guard is to regularly take time off to eschew digital activity and use that time for more meaningful social interaction with our loved ones, friends and others.
Are we finding ourselves hooked for extended hours online? Are we oblivious to our surroundings at times when connected to the digital world? Do we feel restless without our smartphone or digital device in hand? If our answer to these questions is affirmative, it means it is time for us to go on a digital detox.
