#campgrounded

Are you deluged by data? A Reflection Paper

   In today’s era of technology, the trend of using gadgets is expanding, the use of social media sites is increasing, and the absorption of the new technologies is escalating. The intensifying result of this rapid change is the multiplying numbers of data we created and absorb. But, the risk of having the bad data habit of some individual might increase. As revealed in the video, some of the people are really deluged by data. The question is are you one of them? Are you infected?

   Yes, definitely, I am deluged by data, because since I engaged in the digital world, I was like trying to quench my thirst by being part of this era and being one of the people curious about what was this thing has or this century have. It was all started when I am in Grade 9, when my mom bought me my first android smartphone as a reward for my academic excellence. Since then I started to take a picture everywhere, every time and at every moment. I started to be engaged in such social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. But I am totally get addicted with Facebook. Aside of those, I obtain such a large number of data to suffice my wants and needs or in short, my thirst like downloading pictures of everything I imagine and wanted. As I remember, those are images from the Divergent movie and other beautiful girls I saw in the image’s sites. I am really sure that our school Wi-Fi plays a big role to this bad habit. The habit continues and increase in the higher years especially when I reached Grade 10. Where most of our activities and moments happened is captured and recorded. From quizzes, performance, group pictures, group bonding, relationships, the school itself, awarding, people and many more are all captured. When higher years came, obsession in taking pictures and downloading media takes a slow improvement. Maybe, this is because of my education focus motive and new lifestyle. Senior High School years to me is projects and school performance focused because of the need of time and heavy tasks. Also, my phone got broken because it falls to a hard surface ground and needed to be fixed to be used again and I am actually defining this as the main reasons why I made my bad habits rarely. After that scene, my focus shifted to the usage of Facebook where I honestly revealed that I get addicted with.

   I really feel and understand **torontoluck **of her habit in taking pictures time by time. Also, I get hooked with what Digital Organizer Daina Makinson said that “the more photos you have, the harder they are to find.” She is totally right I experience this when my teacher asks me to send her the photos happened on the day we have the activity and unfortunately it has months passed, and I have thousands of photos to scroll and look at it each by each. But, of all those bad digital habits I’m glad that I did not fail with my subjects but just get have a hard time in complying each.

     As I remembered, infobesity is also known as Information Overload and as what the people experience in the video, yes, I have suffered with it. Now, I am working on it to manage the information I have absorbed.

     It started in my recent years in high school, but not that worst as the people in the video have experienced, when I am hunger with knowledge just to satisfy people’s expectation. I studied a lot of things, I read a lot of books and information and I watched lots of informative videos. Because of my eagerness to gain knowledge, I never noticed that I am spending my whole time with it, I sleep every 1 AM in the morning and skipped some of my meals. Even my mom scolded me about it. After a week of doing it, I felt confused and always distracted of the things I always say, and I have observed it like what happened to me during my reporting in class, I am reading my visual aid, but I can’t explain it well and I get stammered even if I am not used to it. So, then I conclude that I may have an Information Overload where my brain can’t process and absorb the information because it is simultaneous, no breaks, and as a result confusion eaten me with sleepless nights.

     Speaking in technology, I guess just last month, I experience information overload in my Gmail account when I subscribe to more than a hundred of pages and channels which result to a bunch of emails, I received every day. The worst here is I get a hard time in finding the emails of my teacher to me and the important emails as well. So, after my task and projects I decided to clean my Gmail and unsubscribe to most of the sites, pages and channels.

     I am really sure that I need a digital diet. A way of consuming the technology in a healthy way. I need to be wise now and be smarter to face this struggle and disconnect with the bad data habit. I need to take and absorb these technologies in a healthy way where I cannot harm myself, my relationship with my family and friends, and my good habits. I need also to lessen this engagement in technologies and social media sites. Actually, I am doing it a long time ago but in a gradual way to slowly absorb the change by my body. I lessen the time I spend with Facebook and Online games. I am more with bonding with friends, family and even my pets, which is one of my stress relievers. Everything really works fine and well. Just disconnect to reconnect with myself totally.

Speaking of disconnecting, yes this is what I really want, I’m sure, and I gradually do it now. Of course, when you disconnect with your devices, you will feel the real happiness and life, you will feel the nature and you will feel yourself by not measuring your heartbeat or mood but by letting them flow in your body and do what it wants.