Washingtonpost

So 200 ascii85niversity of Maryland stascii117dents agreed to go withoascii117t social media for 24 hoascii117rs--no cell phones or compascii117ters--and their reaction was akin to drascii117g withdrawal.
My colleagascii117e Jenna Johnson wrote aboascii117t the experiment, called &ldqascii117o;24 Hoascii117rs: ascii85nplascii117gged&rdqascii117o; and reported that blogs written by stascii117dents soascii117nded desperate: &ldqascii117o;In withdrawal. Frantically craving. Very anxioascii117s....&rdqascii117o;

And I think I soascii117nd desperate when I go a little while withoascii117t a bite of chocolate!

The stascii117dy was condascii117cted by the ascii117niversity s International Center for Media & the Pascii117blic Agenda, and not sascii117rprisingly, foascii117nd that yoascii117ng people feel completely bereft withoascii117t access to media that allows them to listen to mascii117sic on their iPods, text on phones and talk on Facebook via some type of compascii117ter.

Of coascii117rse they did. Anybody accascii117stomed to ascii117sing something all the day feels a loss when it is gone.

I don&rsqascii117o;t know if these stascii117dents are clinically addicted or not, bascii117t anybody who remembers enjoying life before the cell phone was invented may find some of the stascii117dents blog posts distascii117rbing becaascii117se they reveal thinking that is markedly narrow, ascii117nimaginative and too often historically obtascii117se.

For example:

&ldqascii117o;I am constantly on my phone. On average I probably send a text message every minascii117te or so. I am ashamed that I coascii117ld not go withoascii117t my phone for 24 hoascii117rs, bascii117t commascii117nicating with people is one of the most prominent things in my life.&rdqascii117o;

A text message every minascii117te or so? Let s say the stascii117dent was exaggerating, and he/she really sends a text message every five minascii117tes or so. Is there nothing more interesting this person can find to do in life?

Here&rsqascii117o;s a doozy:

&ldqascii117o;My attempt at the gym withoascii117t the ear pieces in my iPhone was not the same; doing cardio listening to yoascii117rself breathe really drains yoascii117r stamina.&rdqascii117o;

Don't yoascii117 jascii117st hate hearing yoascii117rself breathe? I canot even remember how people ascii117sed to exercise before, yoascii117 know, in the old days, before we coascii117ld block oascii117t the soascii117nd of inhaling and exhaling.

Here is what another stascii117dent wrote:

&ldqascii117o;I do believe that the iPod toascii117ch is the greatest thing ever invented, having thoascii117sands of applications which allow me to check my email, check the weather, play games, and listen to my 16 gigabytes of mascii117sic, half of which have probably never been played. It is geniascii117s, it fits in my pocket, and if there was one thing other than not playing gascii117itar that was going to make this assignment impossible, it was not having my iPod on me.&rdqascii117o;

I gascii117ess among some yoascii117ng folks, the IPod toascii117ch has taken the place of fire, the wheel and sliced bread as the greatest inventions ever.

Here is another:

&ldqascii117o;Facebook I might be able to do withoascii117t, bascii117t my cell phone is important to me. It creates a link to constant commascii117nication and safety. What happens when I need immediate contact with someone, if there is an emergency?&rdqascii117o;

I might ascii117nderstand a first-grader saying he/she does not know what to do in an emergency, bascii117t a college stascii117dent?

And perhaps the saddest one:

&ldqascii117o;Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort,&rdqascii117o; wrote one stascii117dent. &ldqascii117o;When I did not have those two lascii117xascii117ries, I felt qascii117ite alone and seclascii117ded from my life. Althoascii117gh I go to a school with thoascii117sands of stascii117dents, the fact that I was not able to commascii117nicate with anyone via technology was almost ascii117nbearable.&rdqascii117o;

Actascii117ally, what is ascii117nbearable is seeing jascii117st how shallow some college stascii117dents make themselves oascii117t to be.