A second development we see is that we have more and more screens on at the same time and for longer. It also allows us to connect more between the screens. What is striking about the screens is that our largest screen, often the television, is increasingly disappearing into the background and is thus becoming the new radio. Radio was once, until well into the fifties of the last century, the medium around which list to data the family was glued. With the arrival of the TV, radio became a medium for the background. The same fate now seems to befall TV.
We look more, but we see less
Social TV CompanionOur tablets, but even more so our smartphones, are busy taking over the place of TV as the most important screen. Research shows that while watching television we regularly use our smartphone or iPad, see for example this article about TV commercials . What you get is that we watch the same television program, but we go into different depths on our smartphone separately. As soon as the screen lights up we are gone, our attention has shifted. This makes us less present offline.
We look more, but see less. It is becoming more restless for the mind, but also for the body. Not so long ago I read the sighing remark of a teenager in the newspaper that her life was becoming a continuous online chat . You are forced to keep up with the latest news via Facebook. We seem to be getting addicted to the internet and everything it offers us. What is disappearing is the daydreaming, empty moments and boredom. Everything is filled with the smartphone. There are no more short moments of standby. Is that okay? What is wrong with boredom?