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A slow-moving horde of “digital zombies” shuffled through central Madrid this weekend, eyes glued to their phones, in a striking street performance warning about how hooked we have become on our screens. The march, from Plaza de Pontejos to Callao, carried the slogan “Stop being a zombie” and was designed to make passers-by look twice at their own mobile habits.

 

The event was organised by the OFF Movement as an “urban intervention” and performance piece to highlight what it calls social hyperconnectivity. Participants, dressed and made up as zombies, staggered through the streets while staring at their screens, symbolising how everyday life is increasingly dominated by constant connection. The route between Pontejos and Callao was set up as a live awareness campaign about intensive mobile phone use.

 

The OFF Movement is a global network working to combat growing technological alienation and help people regain control over their lives. Its manifesto warns that digital technology has infiltrated every aspect of existence, creating a "digital anaesthesia" that numbs autonomy and critical thinking. The group calls for reinventing the OFF button and reclaiming the right to use technology without being used by it. Backed by over 300 international figures from science, culture, business, law, health and education, OFF sees hyperconnectivity as a challenge that threatens our future.

 

The OFF Movement says it is basing the campaign on recent studies that show Spaniards spend an average of four hours a day connected to their mobile phones, a habit it warns is having “negative effects” on health. Sociologist and founder Diego Hidalgo summed up the message bluntly: “These digital zombies represent all of us as a society. We have allowed ourselves to be absorbed by those small screens that accompany us everywhere and at all times, and they have stolen a good part of our time and attention.” He added that this constant distraction “conditions the attention we dedicate to others and also to our activities, such as reading, playing sports or even sleeping.”

 

The action launched “OFF February”, a 28-day challenge where people are invited to delete social media apps from their phones for the whole month in order to “recover time and attention away from the screen”. The idea is simple: almost any alternative to time spent on social networks is seen as having a more positive effect on well-being, from seeing friends in person to reading, exercising or getting a better night's sleep.

 

As part of the initiative, Madrid will host the first OFF Festival, a programme of events built around “the challenge of rethinking our relationship with technology and attention”. The official launch of OFF February will take place on Monday January 27 at Casa Encendida, marking the start of what the group calls a social experiment: what happens when we stop being the product and take back control of our time?

 

 

Image: Thomas Ulrich/Pixabay and offm.org