In no way a hat tip to luddites but simply 'a 24 hour global respite from technology,' the day aims to highlight to value of digitally disconnecting so we can re-connect with what matters.
If you thought your Facebook feed truly mattered to you, or your instant gratification from Instagram wasn't instant enough, then perhaps you need a digital detox.
The news that this day has arrived in Australia comes smack bang in the midst of the smartphone season that is the mobile madness of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
At that event, Samsung launched its flagship S9 and S9+ smartphones, as reported in iTWire, with Aussie telcos and MVNOs already flooding journalist inboxes with notes of special deals to tempt you into buying from that particular organisation.
{loadposition alex08}But with everyone so plugged into technology, with eyes firmly affixed to the glowing round-cornered rectangles increasingly becoming all the rage in today's devices, the need to unplug and start to regain some digital life, work, social media, gaming and content binge-watching balance emerges.
Of course, it might not have emerged for you if you're wildly addicted to your devices, but it may well be the splinter in the corner of your mind wanting you to unplug from the matrix.
So, a red pill has emerged. Dubbed the "National Day of Unplugging," this appears to be a US initiative (judging by all the info at the site linked above), which has now arrived in Australia.
The day is being promoted in Australia by a tech repair company called Fix2U, which obviously wants a bit of free publicity, and which is urging is to "Do the 24-hour digital detox."
In the US, the date of the vent is "Sundown on 9th March until Sundown 10th March," but in Australia, this date is pushed forward thanks to time zone differences, thus being "Sundown on 10th March, 2018, until Sundown 11th March."
To get involved in Australia, you can order a free sleeping bag for your phone to "help withstand the urge to use your phone during the day."
You can also download a free sign where you pledge that "I unplug to...." with the dots filled in with what you intend to do during your detox period.
Presumably pleading to use your landline phone or tablet or laptop isn't exactly in the spirit of digital detoxing, but who knows what wily ways some will end up wavering over to in an attempt to detox without really detoxing.
A detox-free detox isn't much of a detox, but hey, after 24 hours most will retox themselves, so... maybe you really do need to take the opportunity to temporarily switch off.
That said, why not give it a go? Virtually all of your ancestors were able to live their lives without modern technology, so 24 hours of digitally smartphone detoxing is unlikely to leave with you with little more than the withdrawal symptoms of analog-laden anxiety at not being able to have your phone in your hand 24/7.
So, may the force of a digital-free detox be with you, and... good luck!
Here are some digital detoxers in the US, with Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington posted below within the digital photo mix:
