Offlining Inc. Dares You to Unplug

If you're a regular reader of Switched then you know by now the addictive power of technology. Gamers in South Korea are being prescribed antidepressants and are dropping dead of exhaustion, Americans routinely pick the Web over sex, and evidence is mounting that too much time spent online can lead to depression, anxiety and fatigue. It's no wonder that many people and organizations have urged us to unplug, even just temporarily, before our brains become little more than balls of gelatin we use to click "add as friend" on Facebook and to perform Google searches.

Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum, former marketing execs, started Offlining Inc. to encourage people to put down the technology, and to reconnect with the world and the people around them. This isn't some extremist group that wants everyone to live off the land and seek shelter in a hollowed-out tree; the organization simply calls for a more judicious application of tech. The site features a campaign proclaiming ,"You don't have to be Jewish to give up drunk dialing for Yom Kippur" accompanied by an image of Mel Gibson. Similar e-cards, featuring images of personalities like Tiger Woods and Lindsay Lohan, are also posted on the site. But, if ditching tech from sunset to sunset (Sept 17th and 18th) is a bit extreme, the founders have a less imposing challenge: have ten tech-free dinners between now and thanksgiving. That's just once a week where you sit across from your loved ones without tweeting about your meal or responding to e-mails from your boss about how big of a screw-up you are.

Tim Carmody over at Wired raises the question of what our new-found obsession with digital escapism means. Offlining is just the latest entrant in our unofficial dialog with ourselves about the appropriate use of technology and our apprehension with accepting how reliant we've become on our devices. We've suggested taking sabbaticals from the Web, and the New York Times has even fetishized the act of disconnecting with the Unplugged Challenge. Is this movement simply the death throes of our offline culture as we accept being constantly connected? Or, is this our way of finding a natural balance after our honeymoon with texting and e-mail has worn off?

We're hoping it's the latter. It'll be a real shame if, in the future, Thanksgiving dinner involved BBMing each other to pass the candied yams.

Tags: internet addiction, InternetAddiction, offlining, top, unplug, unplugging, web