By Jenny Rivera, Staff Writer
elebrations today are not the same as they once were. In the past, living in the moment was all people knew how to do. But, as our society modernizes with advancements in technology and the emergence of the cell phone, the way we share and remember ideas has altered. There is no doubt these additions have changed lives, but are we abusing the capabilities of phones and technology by hoarding memories?
Take New Year’s Eve celebrations. In the past, people would celebrate the day with laughter, tears, hugging and excitement filling the air, but now, many major hot spots are consumed by people trying to get the perfect video to remind them of the event.
Items which once held sentimental value like photo albums are slowly becoming irrelevant, despite many trying to sustain the tradition. Photo albums held a few hundred photos of moments that were special to people, now the cell phone holds thousands of those same special moments and more.
Stony Brook student and science major Gina Clayton is a big advocate for keeping memories on her phone.
“I have about 8,000 photos in my phone, not to include videos and I’ve never had issues losing them at all…It’s kind of crazy because I never cared to have them printed, I’m sure why,” she said.
Social work major Alisa Stanton mentioned that she has a little over 15,000 photos and videos combined.
“I actually have printed my photos because I love to make collages, but I don’t think I’ll print thousands because it’s kind of too much,” Stanton said.
According to an article by journalist Jessica Migala, hoarding photos could possibly tie into mental health. Having memories upon memories stored in your phone whether good, bad, or even painful can disrupt the mind.
“I had to go through my phone plenty of times to delete things that I no longer cared to see, and it did make me emotional because of the memories I held on to,” she said.
There are many others like Stanton who struggle through this rather unhealthy habit of hoarding without knowing. Clayton agreed with Stanton.
“It is draining, the idea of looking through so many photos and not knowing what’s still there.”
An online survey showed that there are an average of 3000 photos on a single person’s cell phone. Being attached to a phone can often take away from living in a moment and it can be exhausting to someone who wants to enjoy the moment without a structured thought.
Nowadays, there are many people who work for social media, are content creators, and digital publishers. So, it can be very difficult to not capture a moment. But is it really a moment?
“You know, I am definitely guilty of asking someone to do something again so that I can record it, but I don’t think it’s completely selfish,” Clayton said.
Stanton shared her thoughts.
“I do love living in the moment though. I realize that my generation is a bit different and I’m trying to make money on social media like others do. So, it’s hard when you feel you have to capture everything knowing it could be the video that takes off,” Stanton said.
The pressures of wanting popularity and financial wealth have caused a heavy strain on people because of the accessibility of technology.
Perhaps it is time to follow in Stanton’s footsteps by going back to our roots. So print out your photos and create a collage, because moments can be special.
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