I too, sleep next to my phone. I agree with Danah Boyd that the connectedness of the always-on culture encourages communication and the spread of ideas. Yet something about her writing in “Participating in the Always-on lifestyle” spooked me and left me with a dirty taste in my mouth.
Maybe I disliked the article because she (Danah is a she, right?) was so aware and articulate about all of the problems of being always on:
Phones at the dinner table.
Weak, peripheral connections.
ADDICTION and Instant gratification.
Life hacking for more screen time.
Failure to find a balance.
Lack of privacy and the ability to be misinterpreted.
..and others.
I got spooked because although Danah is clearly a success story, there are so many ways to fall short of the mark in the always-on culture. Maybe I’m just an ‘outsider’, but the risk doesn’t seem worth the reward to me.