Virtual reality or virtual dependency?

By: Aleysha

PETALING JAYA: On the 3^rd of March, within the course of the Academy Awards ceremony, Ellen DeGeneres announced to the audience that they had successfully overloaded the social networking site, Twitter, by garnering the most re-tweets for a post since its creation.

The tweet, a ‘selfie’ of a group of celebrities taken at the Oscars, has to date, been shared over 3 million times.

The accomplishment of such a technological feat begs the question: how attached to our devices are we?

A group of 20 youths of diverse backgrounds from all around Petaling Jaya took the time to help us understand just how wired we are to our gadgets.

All twenty participants owned a smartphone, at the very least, with most owning either a laptop or a tablet as well, while roughly 30% also owned an additional device such as a music player or a portable game console.

All 20 participants answered that they used their smartphones every day, with varying degrees of use for the rest of the items.

Joshua Low, 20, who owns 4 devices, says that he fully utilizes them every day.

Most of the participants use their devices primarily for communication and social networking, adding that they feel that their devices have helped them stay connected with people, even over great distances.

Sarah Babiker, 20, feels that her smartphone has made it much easier to contact people, but it also puts a great deal of pressure on an individual to keep up to date with the lives of so many people.

Most respondents asserted that they don’t just use their devices for communication or entertainment but for working and doing assignments.

Alayna Rani, 20, states that gadgets have ‘made everything a lot easier’.

“As a growing adult,” she continues. “It’s nice to have some personal space to work - the laptop is good for that.”

When asked how much time they spend on their devices, almost 60% answered that they use their devices for more than 5 hours per day.

“I’ll die without my handphone because I need to hear my mum, dad, and sister’s voice at least once a day!” says smartphone user, Aqilah.

Many smartphone users such as Keshailla Menon, 22, and Roshan, 26, feel they have become dependent on their devices.

“I feel handicapped without it,” says Roshan.

When asked how much they would pay for a device, the respondents replied that they would be willing to pay upwards of RM600, with the highest being RM4,000 for a Macbook Pro.

Surprisingly, most would not be in a hurry to replace their devices, if they were lost with the average time before getting a replacement being approximately 1 week.

When asked about the length of time they feel they could live without their devices, they responded with answers ranging from a few hours to ‘indefinitely’.

When commenting on the darker side of things, most felt that the negative effects of reduced face-to-face interaction and overall efficiency in life occur when devices are used in excess.

Smartphone, laptop and tablet user, Eng Wei Han, 20, explains that his gadgets have clearly offered him convenience in many ways and increased his efficiency in certain tasks. However, the limitless access to information could easily disrupt a healthy lifestyle and reduce productivity, especially when one is engrossed in the virtual reality of games.

In the end, 50% of the participants felt that they needed to reduce the time spent on their devices and that it all comes down to balance in life.

In the words of smartphone and laptop user, Ming Shu, 22, ‘we need to exercise moderation in all things’.