A Shared Experience

Technology is a topic that is discussed a lot these days, and not without reason. Smart phones, computers, the internet -- they pretty much rule our lives. I recently got an app on my phone called Checky. The purpose of it is simple: it tells me how often I check my phone every day. It's crazy looking back at the numbers and seeing how much attention my phone gets from me, and it's also interesting to see the trends. I found out check my phone more often during the school day than on weekends. Which makes sense, since I use my phone as a calculator and resource more during school.

In English class the other day we watched a video of a speaker talking about connecting with others and technology. I can't link to the video, since it was my English teacher's personal recording (and I'm not even sure who the speaker was), but I'll explain a little bit. 

Basically, there are several feel-good chemicals our brains release: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. 

Serotonin is the one we're mostly talking about here. Serotonin is that really good feeling when you do something good, and everyone else gets to know about it too. Serotonin is walking across the stage at your graduation, and everyone is applauding you.

Serotonin is the buzz of your phone telling you you have a message.

Phones give the illusion of productivity and experience. Each like, retweet, follow...it all gives you a little boost of serotonin. Working out gives you an endorphin boost, but does that in itself feel as good as posting your workout to Facebook and getting a large number of likes? Didn't think so. 

But it's not real.

The magic of serotonin is that it actually is for connecting with others. When you're walking across that stage, you feel really proud, but guess what?

The people applauding for you are getting serotonin boosts too. 

It's a shared experience. And there is where phones lack. When someone likes your post, you don't know what they got from it. And there, among the chaotic buzz of likes, comments, follows, retweets...

Among the little zaps of serotonin that make you feel so great and liked...

There is where you find the empty loneliness of yourself.