The world today revolves around the use of technology, and sometimes an individual has to take a stand to help others realize the negatives of different devices and their tolls on our lives. Gary Turk decided to expose this concept to not only thousands, but millions of people across the globe. With his touching and inspiring YouTube upload on the effects technology can have on lives, he has changed the ideals of many and has influenced them to put down their cellphones and ultimately “Look Up”.

He starts out by saying that his “friends” are basically people he barely makes eye contact with. When he is with them, they are constantly on their phones, and Turk makes the point that the so-called “social” media is ironically only making people less social. It is distracting to the point where users feel more satisfied sitting at home with their tablet or cellphone then going somewhere and leaving their phones behind. I believe Turk is completely right when he says the electronics are distracting from having different life experiences, such as exploring nature or going out and doing something spontaneous. I also agree with him when he says it is bad for “friends” to be together, yet just stay on their phones and not really talk the whole time. He is exploiting the real world and is showing the failures of being so dependent on a minimized computer. Turk’s clear explanation of the issues an iPhone brings, such as not “coexist”ing with other humans, was eye-opening for many, and pushed them to leave their phone at home and go somewhere, which is the scene that was pictured near the end of the video.

In addition, Turk brings up that children are being sucked into this constant use of technology, and he explains it is very detrimental to their learning. He states, “It’s not very likely you will make world’s greatest dad, if you can’t entertain a child without using an iPad”. I think that this is relatable for many people who watch this- mothers, fathers, siblings, and friends- who all see a child growing up that has his/her own iPad or any device. I remember that, from when I was seven until I got my phone at 12, I had my friends’ home numbers memorized so I could talk to them. I still called people until I got to seventh grade. Now, my eight-year-old brother is always on his tablet, my twin four-year-old cousins have had an iPad each since they were two, and my twelve-year-old sister is always texting people. The youth went from conversing to people on extended telephone calls, which left a lot of time in the day to do something creative, to quick and snippy little texts throughout the whole day, leaving no time to do anything extraordinary. Technology has truly changed the process of growing up, making children have it as a major part of their lives. Ultimately, I think Turk’s purpose of this topic was to show that we need to stop this hypnotization before things get any worse.

One last subject Turk brought up that caught my eye was how he explained, “We’re at ‘almost happy’ with an experience we share, but it is the same if no one is there?”. When he said this, my mind automatically thought of people who only go places to post a picture on social media, like Instagram. Sometimes, the only reason some technology-obsessed individuals want to do something is if they can show off whatever it was to other people. Instead, we should be learning to do different things for our own benefit, and taking our experiences to heart, not to our phones. In addition, Turk also portrays, “So when you’re in public and you start to feel alone, put your hands behind your head; Step away from the phone!”. The fact that he alluded to a policeman screaming something like “Step away from the weapon!” only goes to show how messed up a cellphone can make us. Turk’s different points really had an effect on me, and I found some of his statements very interesting.

As time goes on, it will become more difficult for children to conform to society without the use of their cellphone. The information that Turk has given the thirty-three million people that watched the video was important and completely truthful. Even the video itself is an example of how people are wrapped up in social media. It was a five-minute video, and if you multiply that by the number of viewers that would mean that all the people combined spent one hundred sixty five million minutes watching Turk talk. Obviously, Turk has taken the role of letting tons and tons of people know that they should turn off their phones and go do something productive, and he has affected millions of people.