Healthy Tech Habits Workshop
We live in an age in which we’ve never been so connected to one another – smartphones and social media enable us to keep in touch with family and friends worldwide. Yet for some reason, loneliness and anxiety are on the rise. According to recent research in Australia, more than 50% of Australians experience loneliness, and in the U.K., a study by The Co-op and the British Red Cross revealed over 9 million people are either always or often lonely. In the U.S., the National Institute of Mental Health reports that 38 percent of teenage girls and 26 percent of teenage boys have an anxiety disorder.
The problem could be that we’re connected all the time. Thanks to social media like Facebook and Instagram, the ideal life no longer sits within glossy weekend magazines, but in the personalised news feeds of our friends and peers. It’s here we’re bombarded with pictures of body shapes or holidays we think we should have. And no one ever reminds us that these are painstakingly curated, and devoid of any plain or ugly moments – the sort that makes people “human” and reality “real”. This is why the UK Royal Society of Public Health recently warned that social media can inspire feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, and self-loathing.
Alex Beattie is a PhD student at Victoria University, who is researching the benefits of disconnecting from the internet, and how to cultivate healthy tech habits when online.
Alex will be hosting a free workshop in SU218 in the Student Union Building from 12 noon to 1pm on Tuesday 29 May. There is no need to book, just turn up. There will be a chance to learn how to take control of your smartphone, develop some healthy tech habits, and make some social connections too.