Arzu Erbil

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Section A
Reading Journal 5
Magdalene Taylor (2023) “Stop Lying to Yourself, Your Phone Is Making You Depressed”
Retrieved from https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7zekm/smartphone-depression-correlation

Our Phone Is Making Us Depressed

Most people are sadder than before. The number of Americans who say they are happy
with their life had just dropped to a record low. According to a study, in 2021, almost half of
the young people insist on being sad. A common theory says that since they spend too much
time on their phones, young people are miserable. Our phone is making us depressed, and it is
not making us happy. But it is not our fault. With spreading the smartphones we spend more
time alone than ever. We act like there's nothing to do but we also know that spending too
much time with our phones is not good for us. We can say that over-dependence on
technology is among the biggest perceived problems of demographics.
Also, today's social media is different from that of a decade ago. It has endless sources
entertainment to keep us looking as long as possible. In addition, social media brings out the
feeling of jealousy in people and people start comparing themselves to other people. We are
trying to hold ourselves to the same standard with other people. Possibility of socializing was
decrease especially with COVİD-19 and it pushed people indoors. So, people started to
socialise through their phones, but it does not help them to build new spaces. We think that
the issue is not caused by phones. Maybe it is not our fault, but it does not mean For half of
our waking hours, we must recline and keep scrolling. If we do so, we punish ourselves. We
can change our relationship with technology by limiting our phone use.
 Reading Journal 6
Nikki Natividad (2023) “People Are Finding Love on Discord” Retrieved from
https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5v4k7/people-are-finding-love-on-discord

Love on Discord
People are constantly looking for love, even using horoscopes and tarot readings for
this. Some people are looking for lifelong friends on apps like Tinder and Bumble. Here is
another application for finding people unexpectedly, Discord. This app became popular
especially with the onset of the pandemic period. It offered the opportunity to broadcast and
chat while playing games for special gamers. Nowadays people are trying to find someone on
discord. Some people purposefully sign up for dating servers. Many claim that they prefer
Discord over conventional dating applications because there is no pressure to talk to all the
time. But like other dating apps, this app carries some risks. You shouldn’t reveal your
personal information soon. In addition, there is many success stories on discord. Several
relationships that started on the app are now wed or engaged. Enrico Dumayas, who started to
like a girl on Discord, said "It's not the way you meet, but the person you meet". A couple
who met again in a game and lived in different cities said that it was easier to meet people
online. Another person who are using discord for personal development and financial advice
fell in love with someone on Discord.
Like many people, I am one of those who discovered the discord application during
the pandemic process. My only real goal was to make friends with whom I could have a fun
time when I was bored, and this is how it happened. I made a lot of friends on Discord, we
played games together and time really went by fast with them. But I have never used this
application for dating purposes. I haven't met any men I met on this app. I had a girlfriend
whom I only found out we live in the same city. After getting to know her well, we decided to
meet. Thus, I think discord is an app that can be used not only for dating, but also really just
for making friends.