NU 12: New Attitude / Paradigm: Less is More

Ateneo Innovation and Entrepreneurship "New ideas create more and better new products and services; create more wealth."

New attitude / paradigm: Less is More by Crissy Cruz

How important is it to be always online?

Over the last 15 years, the internet has taken over the lives of many. Indeed, it has vast advantages and has brought us a lot of conveniences that have been unimaginable several decades earlier. Without the internet to support our everyday tasks, I don’t know if some people will be able to function well. Slow internet or even worse, zero internet can be considered as one of the top first world pains.

However, it seems like spending too much time online has already taken a toll on me. There’s too much unnecessary information cluttered in social networking sites. I use facebook and twitter to be updated about people that matter, but then again you can’t help but be distracted or hooked with information that are toxic or trivial. You get to see glimpses of everyday lives of other people, where they went, what they ate, what are they planning to do next. Until when do I have to be concerned with an acquaintance’s more detailed life plan? Do I really need to know that my elementary classmate had beef teriyaki for lunch? How many ultrasound photos of expecting mothers do I have to endure on my newsfeed?

I guess there comes to a point when social networking sites can drive you to be anti-social.

In a recent trip in Hong Kong, one of the things I noticed among the people is their inherent attachment to their cellphones and other gadgets. I rode a train during rush hour and never did I hear a casual chatter among the commuters. Everyone was glued to their phones. The worst happens when groups of people eat and share a meal together but they never talk to each other. Instead, everyone’s too busy answering a text, posting a photo, or signing into some location.

How can we be so connected and yet disconnected at the same time? Studies have also shown that the use of Social Networking Sites does not ease loneliness at all.

I am not trying to say that the internet is evil or nor do I perceive it as a tool that destroys humanity and all that is good in it. However it seems that now more than ever, real relationships are harder to maintain and the real identity of individuals are harder to distinguish. We take for granted spending time with other people face to face and we depend so much on the voices of the majority. What matters is whatever is “trending”.

Ayn Rand wrote in the Fountainhead that “Every form of happiness is private. Our greatest moments are personal, self-motivated, not to be touched".  With all the sea of posts I encounter everyday, these lines written in the 1940’s makes so much sense. It makes me want to hold back and re-think what information I want to share with the rest of the world. Less can be more. 3