Using the internet is inevitable. It is part of our daily lives and honestly, we can’t live without anymore. It has facilitated our lives a lot, and the advancements are just introducing themselves at a high accelerating speed. Using the internet just because it makes life easier, doesn’t mean it is not counterproductive. Just because we you use the internet everywhere, doesn’t mean internet is all perfect and suitable for a utopian world. True, we don’t live in a utopia, but we have to be careful that the internet is not making us feel cognitive impaired, enslaved and plain miserable what you see in a dystopian world. If there is one device that is drastically changing our habits negatively, it is the smartphone. More phone users ask themselves nowadays how to overcome phone addiction. People are more aware now that this addiction is something that needs to be beaten.
More and more people realize there is something up with the way their relationship with their phone is developing. Is it a healthy relationship? Or is the phone similar to a jealous boyfriend or girlfriend who demands constant attention? Look around you when you commute, when you walk the streets and even in bars. How many times do you see people consumed by their phone? I love the above photo that basically says everything.
The older generation hasn’t been grown up with phones, not like Millennials or let alone the Generation Z aka the iGeneration (iGen). I guess you already understand to which word the latter is referring to: the iPhone. No, the older generation are used to IRL relationships: In Real Life Relationships. They developed their social skills quicker and they had to go out and about to get to know people. Let alone the generations that haven’t grown up with a television. The world was smaller back then and yes, the internet has caused for globalization to advance much faster. But I think we can all agree that there is a fundamental underlying problem when it comes to the use of phones and social media. This obviously leads to more research regarding how to stop phone addiction and lead a better life.
We have to understand that the companies making the smartphones and social media platforms are trying very hard to make us stay and click as long as possible. Most of us don’t even realize that, because we “love” the tricks they implement to make us hooked. Social Media is the perfect place for the need of validation and is it the perfect place to find out what’s going on in everybody’s lives. But the updates don’t stop. There are updates every minute, every second. You think you love to know about what is going on in people’s lives and to participate in the online society, but it simply makes you more addicted to the screen and sensitive to FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
Yes, I used the word addicted. Let me ask you this, do you bring your phone to the toilet with you? Do you grab your phone before saying good morning to your loved one lying next to you in bed? You see, the phone is never leaving our side. Ever. Remember those days when we used to say “BRB”, aka Be Right Back? We don’t say it anymore. Because we live here now. It is time to find the answer to the popular question how to stop phone addiction.
I completely agree that complete abstinence from your phone or social media is not an option. I don’t want to remove the phone from my life either. I have a healthy relationship with my phone. What I am saying, is that you want to re-evaluate your relationship with your phone. Moderate your use, and constantly ask yourself this question when using your phone and social media: is this really the most productive activity I can do at this very moment?