A new initiative has been launched–Offlining, Inc.– that urges (initially) parents to turn off their mobile devices and computers, and focus more quality attention on the people that matter most in their lives. The ‘Offlining’ founders are Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo, the innovative marketing entrepreneurs behind the environmental movement Tappening and the political and educational Read To Vote campaign. In our technology-obsessed modern world, Offlining offers an opportunity to foster more balance between technology and our humanity, by encouraging us to incorporate traditional communication modes into our everyday lives.
Says DiMassimo, “Eric and I have spent most of the past two decades convincing people to click, log on, trade stocks in their underwear, go shopping online, and spend more time with their digital friends. We’re still doing that. But now we’re also selling the Off Button! We don’t believe we’re starting a trend. We think we’re naming one that’s already in progress, and we’re using our marketing skills to accelerate it and raise more awareness about it. We’re hoping to add fuel to a national conversation that’s already begun.” Yaverbaum adds, “In addition to being marketers, we’re also husbands and fathers. Mark is the father of three children; I have two. So, we’ve now chosen to launch ‘Offlining, Inc.,’ urging (some say ‘guilt tripping’) that you use some of the time you would have spent online to really notice and engage with the people in your life – sans technology!”
Some ‘inconvenient truths’ about life online:
- In a nationwide 4-day New York Times poll, one in seven married respondents said the use of devices was causing them to see less of their spouses. And 1 in 10 said they spent less time with their children under 18.
- We consume three times as much information each day as we did in 1960.
- Long periods of time spent on our devices, excessive dependence on cell phones and the internet, may be akin to addiction.
- Some experts believe excessive use of the internet, cell phones and other technologies can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic.
- While most Americans say devices like smartphones, cellphones and personal computers have made their lives better and their jobs easier, some say they have been intrusive, increased their levels of stress and made it difficult to concentrate.
- “The technology is rewiring our brains,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and one of the world’s leading brain scientists. She and other researchers compare the lure of digital stimulation less to that of drugs and alcohol than to food and sex, which are essential but counterproductive in excess.
Source: NYTimes, “Hooked on Gadgets”
The co-founders of Offlining, Inc. believe that the distraction that technology has created will only get worse with time. With their campaign, they’re asking that people “Take The Pledge” to have ten No-Device Dinners between now and Thanksgiving Day 2010. (Be sure to make Thanksgiving Day a No-Device Day!). The website is http://www.offlininginc.com/ where you can see an ad campaign that includes tongue-in-cheek copy like, “How do you want to be remembered?” paired with an image of a man in a coffin still gripping his blackberry. And, you can send witty cards reminding your loved ones to engage in face to face experiences. You can watch a segment about Offlining, Inc. on WABC-TV News here.
Authors: Mark DiMassimo is CEO and Chief Creative Officer of DIGO; Eric Yaverbaum is CEO of Ericho Communications.
Absoluetely on target.
An unintended consequence of cyberspace has been the objectification of relationships and a disconnection in our social/emotional communications at two levels:
1) Among those with who we intend to communicate in general and,
2) Among those intimate relationships that demand present moment awareness and emotional availability.
The absence of these two components of communication results in emotional sterility further dehumanizing the communication experience.