Smartphones can be addictive — resist!
Smartphones are known to be addictive. They draw a user in, whether to check social media, text a friend, do a bit of work or look up stray information. The world is at hand when a phone is in hand. Tempting, to be sure. With 1 billion people in the world with smartphones, it’s no exaggeration to say that this technology is changing how humans interact. We’re not among those who bemoan the “good old days” when, supposedly, families chatted, neighbors sat on the porch conversing back and forth, and pesky kids played sandlot ball instead of all those groups staring at their phones. Like any innovation, the smartphone can be both good and bad.
But it’s also no exaggeration to point out that these phones are designed to keep users on the phone — it’s no accident that they are addicting. One study suggests that people can check their phones 150 or more times a day. One former Google employee became worried about that focus, founding an organization called Time Well Spent. He wants the tech industry to bring what he describes as a more ethical design to the way it creates apps and other products. On his website, www.timewellspent.io, there’s this statement: “Technology doesn’t have to be designed to hook people.”
In an interview with PBS’ NewsHour earlier this year, that man, Tristan Harris, reminded phone users that, “For any company whose business model is advertising, or engagementbased advertising, meaning they care about the amount of time someone spends on the product, they make more money the more time people spend. These services are in competition with where we would want to spend our time, whether that’s our sleep or with our friends. There’s this war going on to get as much attention as possible.”
He has a few suggestions to help people use phones smartly. Tricks include altering settings so that notifications come from people, rather than machines. People can limit the first page of a smartphone screen to tools; things like maps, camera, calendar or notes, and put apps on another page. That way, Facebook or Twitter or Instagram won’t be so tempting. One great piece of advice: Buy an alarm clock and charge devices outside of the bedroom. That means a phone isn’t the first thing a sleepy person grabs in the morning.
His bigger message is that individuals have responsibility, but so does big technology. Companies can design apps so they are more about efficiency than drawing people in.
There is particular concern about the impact of smartphones on young people, prompting the “Wait until 8th Pledge.” This group promotes families taking a pledge to make children wait for smartphones until after they are 13. It’s a grass-roots effort — families ask other parents to sign up, so that peer pressure is turned against smartphones. Instead, younger children whose parents think they need phones buy flip phones that simply are useful for calls or texting.
Phones are useful tools, yes, but they should not become substitutes for human interactions, or even for a walk in the park. Individuals have to choose how they use media and the internet, rather than allowing themselves to be sucked in mindlessly. A virtual life, after all, is no substitute for the real world.