The Fifth Appendage

As technology advances and new improvements come to fruition it leaves us wondering, what will be next? Since the advancement from flip phones to smart phones we as a species have done what we do best, adapt. Our adaption to smart phones and our incorporation of them into our lifestyle has benefited us immensely in both connecting us with one another and furthering globalization. Though older generations have struggled a bit to adapt, for the most part smart phones and their capabilities have become second nature to us; so much so, that it’s as though we’ve bio-engineered ourselves an additional appendage. Evolution may take hundreds of thousands of years, but it’s clear that humanity’s adaptation to technology takes just a few decades.

Upon leaving your home what is it that you check for? Keys, wallet, and of course, your cell phone. As we continue to observe the long-term effects of smart phone technology, on mental health for instance, we also need to take notice of a global phenomenon wherein we have adopted a new appendage for ourselves. The fact that your heart drops when you reach for your phone and it’s not there is indicative of a phenomenon in which we only feel secure with our smart phones on our person. One could make the case that, yes smart phones are expensive, but when’s the last time you left your home without your phone? I’d argue that the feeling of anxiety and fear is like that of phantom limb syndrome. Always by your side, your phone has become a part of you, an extension that you are always equipped with. This new appendage doesn’t only exist as a physical sensation either, but rather it has also become a portal for your online identity.

Social media is paired with smart phones in that each one allows access to a multitude of apps allowing you to broadcast a piece of your identity to the global world. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, the ability to extend your identity to the online world and connect with others has become widespread. What you say or post is connected to you. And for those who’ve opted out of social media or chosen to remain anonymous, you’ve picked a side as well. You are choosing to either keep your identity hidden from the online world.

Others who partake however, have carefully crafted their online identity to highlight their qualities or attributes or to better fit in with the norms of an online world. Some live vicariously through social media while others struggle to find the perfect caption or get the best angle. The question we ought we to consider however, is whether our online identity is representative of our actual identity. Comments, pictures, and status posts can only convey so much about a person. Delving deeper, we can see that in creating an online identity, there is more freedom to alter and carefully construct an identity you’d be most happy with, or rather who others would be most happy with.

As with any technological advancement, there will be benefits and negatives. With our adoption of the new appendage, that is the smart phone, we have forced the potential for another identity into existence. There are exceptions with anything, but as we continue to interact with one another we must consider the repercussions of allowing everyone the power to alter their identity. We already wear masks when in public, literally these days, so when given a screen in which we can post highlights or edits, the freedom and power to construct any desired identity is tantalizing. Reality has always been a struggle, especially in these tough times in which we’re living through a global pandemic, but we must remain vigilant as to not lose who we are. An identity online may be representative of the individual behind it, or it may not be.

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Me protege de perigos eminentes,. “sobre ansiedade” is published by Manoela Ferraz Ramos.