No electronics for 24 hours?! It's the National Day of Unplugging
From sunset Friday night to sunset on Saturday, participants in the National Day of Unplugging will not use electronics for 24 hours. The idea is spend some time with the people you have apparently been ignoring in your electronic haze.
“We increasingly miss out on the important moments of our lives as we pass the hours with our noses buried in our iPhones and BlackBerry’s, chronicling our every move through Facebook and Twitter and shielding ourselves from the outside world with the bubble of ‘silence’ that our earphones create,” the official website for the National Day of Unplugging notes.
It’s a cool idea, but implies that there is something … negative, perhaps even evil? … about our connection to electronics. I submit that there is not. Social media is exactly that, I spend time on Twitter and Facebook being social with friends who are far away. My phone is how I communicate with family and loved ones.
Places that aren’t plugged in, like Downton Abbey, just have to use each other for entertainment. I don’t think I could handle the drama! It would turn into an episode of The Hills, where we all go out to the same bar to get away from electronics and then just stare at each other and whisper behind our hands.
Granted, I do spend a lot of time with my iPad, but that’s Netflix’s problem, not mine. And yes, I like to give my life a soundtrack and am constantly listening to music.
Nobody is forcing me to participate in this activity, but here’s how I bet I could beat the system:
++ I will sing “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” instead of listening to it in headphones. {Look out, roommates.}
++ I can take the opportunity to write some fan fiction, on actual paper.
++ Maybe play a game of True American.
++ Oooh, or I could pretend I was in Downton Abbey, and dress up and speak with an accent and hire some friends/minions to play my servants.
And of course, I’ll read the print copy of Entertainment Weekly! Will you be joining me in taking the pledge, while staying involved in pop culture?
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