Technology has become so entwined with college students’ often frantic lives that most in a new survey of student technology use say they’d be more frazzled without it.
Yet the Associated Press-mtvU poll, released Oct. 7 , also found that being perpetually connected comes at a cost. While 57 percent of students said life without computers and cell phones would make them more stressed, a significant number—25 percent—said it would be a relief.
A big majority feel pressured to instantly answer texts or voice mail messages, most get nervous if someone doesn’t immediately reply to a message, and nearly half worry whether messages they get are jokes.
“If you’re without it, you’re disconnected,” Megan Earley, 20, a junior at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., said of technology. “You feel like it’s a lifeline.”
The AP-mtvU poll of student technology use found that 9 in 10 had been on a social networking site like Facebook in the past week. About the same number routinely text to arrange meetings with friends, and two-thirds relax by watching movies or TV shows online.
On a deeper level, many college students use technology to emit cries for help. One in five say they’ve posted public messages on sites like Facebook seeking emotional support, while more than two-thirds say they’ve read public posts by friends pleading for such assistance. Women are more likely than men to post such messages or say they’ve seen them…
Read the full story on eCampus News.
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