From the editor

It is possible to be so gluttonous with our digital diet as to need a “digital detox.”

This is what journalist Daniel Sieberg told Associated Church Press members in Indianapolis in April. His point: use of social media needs balance, restraint and intentionality.

Sieberg began by confessing his former technology addiction as a CBS news correspondent. It came to a head in 2009, when he realized that he was completely out of touch with the people he cared about. Sieberg found that he spent more than 30 solid days (725 hours) on social media in 2007. He felt anxious without cell phone reception or Internet connection.

Sieberg still uses social media. But he resists the urge to let it define or shape him, as he writes in his book The Digital Diet: The 4-step Plan to Break Your Tech Addiction. Despite his lifestyle changes, his past still haunts him.

He describes “social network echoes,” in which something “happens in my life and I catch myself formulating how I’d write a status update or a tweet … it seems stupid and trivial, yet I used to obsess about it.”

It is these feelings and urges that prevent us from embracing the present and feeling grateful for what we have. Instead, it can breed insecurity, uneasiness and restlessness.

Some of us may relate to Sieberg’s feelings while others might wonder incredulously: How could you ever spend an entire hour on Facebook?

Regardless, Sieberg’s book offers suggestions relevant to the tech-addicted, the tech-dependent and those with friends in need of a digital diet.

One suggestion includes finding your “virtual weight index” by adding up and evaluating all the devices, websites and services you regularly use and even putting those devices in a box for a short period of time during the first phase of the detox.

After reading the book, I made two small changes.

First, I went back to using an alarm clock instead of my iPhone. At night I charge my phone in my office away from where I sleep.

Second, I continue to use my phone to listen to music while running, but I now turn it on to airplane mode to avoid calls or texts during jogs so it’s just me and my dog.

Sieberg, who now works for Google, was quick to state that technology is not all bad.

“The digital diet is just like food,” he said in April. “Love your technology—just not unconditionally.”

In fact, he described several applications that he claim use technology to our advantage. One is Slife, a program that tracks and reports your online activity and allows you to set an “egg timer” while on certain websites.

Positive computing is another growing movement. An example of positive computing is a program that gathers all your positive and encouraging emails so you can read them before a stressful meeting or job interview.

Phoenix 2013 offers a setting for us to practice healthy technology use. For example, try an exercise when eating out with friends where everyone places their phone in the middle of the table. The first one to reach for their phone “loses” and buys everyone coffee.

On the positive side, technology and social media also allow those not attending the Phoenix convention to experience elements of the gathering.

The Mennonite staff, along with other agencies, will be posting regularly on social media sites. Moderator-elect Elizabeth Soto Albrecht will blog about her sojourn to Phoenix.

As we prepare to gather, let us be conscious of our tech diet and grateful for what it offers.