When I first learned to drive, a few lessons in, I was tentative. My driving instructor advice was ’’you are in control of the car, it’s not in control of you“. Why is this relevant? Well, I started to realise that the internet, and more specifically Social Media, was telling me what I wanted to see rather than what I wanted to see and it was time to take back control.
How I got to this point
My family and I had gone on holiday in June to a place we’d been many times before that we liked. Being so familiar and having collected photos of the hotel and surrounding area in the past I didn’t really reach for my phone to take pictures. Not looking at my phone meant looking up. All around me I saw people on their phones. I would see them in the beach restaurants ignoring the beautiful sunset and with their backs to the sea and view sitting down on the promenade wall on their phones. When I got back from holiday I went to the cinema and again I would be pulled out of my film watching by the light of phone screens being checked. At this point, everyone else’s phone use was getting under my skin and I was starting to get the first thoughts about reducing my phone time.