Barbara K Iverson

Unlike nomophobia, I find nomophobophobia to be healthy. It is a fear that prompts me to put the phone down periodically. It is a fear that continually provokes important questions: “Am I paying attention here? Am I even aware of my surroundings? Am I really seeing the person in front of me?” It is a fear that reminds me to pay attention to my relationships lest they disappear from sheer neglect. I know I am not alone in battling these temptations. This Sunday is Moodoff Day, an attempt to help people be less dependent on our technology. In a telling indication of how needy we’ve become, Moodoff Day doesn’t even ask us to go 24 hours without the Web; all the organizers ask is that you remain Net-free from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.: “Breakfast Before Browsing.”