Hurry Up & Slow Down
Cheryl Kao
Hurry Up and Slow Down investigates the digital detox culture that manifests amongst millennials since there is a strong connection between social media usage and mental health. In a recent study conducted by Link Humans, an adult spends an average of 9 hours a day on the phone and an estimate of 2,617 taps, swipes, and clicks per day. Social media is no longer a platform that simply lets you chat and add friends—it has evolved into a promotional space of personal advertisements. It changes online and offline human interactions, causing almost half of the adults in the US and UK to have the need for a digital detox.
Prompted by a series of short interviews, Hurry Up and Slow Down touches upon a community of former users who experience or are currently undergoing a digital detox. Disconnecting with their online identities to reconnect with their immediate surroundings, these participants express the challenges, benefits, and freedom of no longer losing themselves to the demands of the digital market. Through this tangible medium, the book provides the reader a space to write down their stories and experiences that act as a personal outlet for this offline community.