Are we addicted to our phones?
In true Carrie Bradshaw style, ‘I could not help but wonder…’ are phones the cigarettes of our time? Would we see phones being sold with a warning 10 years from now, with a health hazard sticker on them? Would they be allowed after a certain age? I truly cannot help but think we are observing a phenomenon we do not truly understand and the consequences are yet to be seen. Our lives are starting to be lived through the lens of our phones but what does this mean for social interaction, real world experiences and our brains overall*?
Since I started going back to the office the past many months, I have made it a point during my morning and evening commute to spend the time observing people around me. Aside from the general, unwritten, no eye contact policy on the tube there is something new. People do not even attempt to make eye contact or stare at random points of the carriage to avoid another person’s gaze. Everyone is head down, hypnotised by the content on their phones. Oblivious to the world around them. Age does not matter - from the young pupil to the elderly, everyone is with a device at hand, customised content in front of them.
People who have followed my journey, know that I work in digital and tech, so device usage is no stranger to me. I explore it from a professional point of view day after day. However, the behaviour I am observing is new. It has gradually come to that. I noticed people are becoming more and more engulfed in the world on their phones rather than the world around them. They walk, talk, work and sleep with their phones. I am not judging of course - I am sitting in front of a device while typing this, and I love watching cats on the internet. However, I think in recent times I have started to get a little scared how impactful they have become in our lives and it poses the real question: are we addicted?
What is addiction?
Addiction is defined by the NHS, as not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you. Addiction is most commonly associated with gambling, drugs, alcohol and smoking, but it's possible to be addicted to just about anything and number 2 on the list is:
The internet – as computer and mobile phone use has increased, so too have computer and internet addictions; people may spend hours each day and night surfing the internet or gaming while neglecting other aspects of their lives
10-15 years ago, such sentence would not have existed anywhere. The iPhone was just about becoming a thing and Blackberry dominated the market (anyone remember this?). I have noticed some of younger colleagues work and sit on their phones at the same time. I find this an interesting phenomenon as well. I cannot imagine this being a thing even 5 years back. I recently sat in meetings where one of the team members was truly opening their phone and scrolling through 2-3 TikToks every few minutes. I realised that it is an unconscious action, he did not even seem aware what he was doing, this is how ingrained the behaviour is.
I recently saw a post on LinkedIn about a new Tik Tok ad, aiming to appeal to an older demographic. As we know Tik Tok is the place to be for Gen Z and some millenials but I think TikTok wants to appeal to more demographics (linking the post itself as I cannot find the ad standalone). Now I have nothing against it, I genuinely think this was a lovely ad to create, I get the aim, I love the down to earth vibe, day to day home experiences etc... BUT… there is a giant but for me - I read the comments and it did not seem to occur to anyone how wrong this scene was. We have inserted our phones in every moment of our daily lives but I genuinely do not think this is right and definitely it should not be promoted and encouraged via an ad. 2 people having dinner together and one of them scrolling on their phone. Yes it is for a good cause, yes he is looking how to be healthier and spend time outdoors etc… However, I think this normalaises the behaviour of the phone being a part of our every moment in life. This is the exact behaviour and its validation that leads to addiction - no boundaries. We are diminishing human interaction with our loved ones, to interact with strangers on the internet. I know that the below scene is very minimal, given this is an ad. However, if you zoom out and think about it - did you even notice it? Did you even think about ‘hey, why are these 2 having dinner and 1 of them is on their phone’? Call me old fashioned but I think this should not be the norm.
The TikTok ad post I saw on LinkedIn, linked in the above paragraph.
Is our phone addiction driving the loneliness epidemic?
There is no wonder more people feel more isolated and lonely than ever, while we are the most connected we have ever been. In evolutionary terms, the technology change we have undergone as a society in the past 10-15 years, is at too rapid of a pace for our brains to assimilate and evolve with. Although it all feels natural to us in our day to day life, our brains are screaming on the inside for a timeout, switch off, a walk in nature, a good book or time spent with friends and family. We as humans, are not built to be exposed to that much stimuli at all times. It is information overload but also it is a scary personalised content curation, based on our behaviour. Every time a person interacts with a piece of content on any of the social networks, an algorithm scores that interaction. The user’s personal scores end up creating a completely personalised and curated version of the internet, created entirely to entice them to stick around and keep scrolling. We are always served content that appeals to what we have liked, watched, commented on or followed. Even if we spend a little longer than usual watching something, the algorithm assesses we are interested in it.
The amount of time we spend on our devices plus our behaviour on them, ends up creating our digital world. This is a dangerous path in my opinion, I was going to say for younger generations but honestly I think it is for everyone. A user continuously gets content that affirms whatever their beliefs are. The amount of content created for their belief stream is so vast that it creates the illusion of reality. I have watched so many things that I know are 100% inaccurate, created for engagement or paid for. However, I have spent time reading comments on videos recently, to understand how do people engage. I was shocked to find how many people feel passionately certain about facts shared with them by a stranger on the internet with 0 credibility, data sources or publications reviewed by peers. Literally anyone with a phone is now an authority on anything and everything. This creates a false reality and can alienate people from the real world, because the real world is not a curated version. It has different people, with different belief systems and healthy level of debate about things. I think this is pushing society more and more to seek solace into their devices because all of their thoughts are validated by likeminded individuals carefully selected by an algorithm for them.
It is ironic how many people were freaking out that the COVID vaccines were the government’s way of chipping us. While if they only lifted their head away from the social media video they were watching, they would have realised that nobody needs to chip us. We already are voluntarily sharing everything there is to share, through our devices.
To answer the question if we are addicted - I think we are walking that path on a societal level. As people, we need to put safeguards and boundaries to keep our independence from our devices.
To speak to someone anonymously about any type of addiction, you can call the Samaritans free on 116 123.
*This article is an expression of my opinion, following my observations and research. I am not an empirical scientist or researcher.
