—
I changed my Facebook password the other day to something fairly complicated and then proceeded to log out “forever”. A once useful tool to catch up with old friends and acquaintances had become a mindless scrolling addiction for me filled with useless memes and viral videos.
After logging out and turning my attention towards more important things it wasn’t long before I subconsciously opened up my phone to the internet browser and clicked on the link to Facebook.
A mere three hours after vowing to stay off of social media I went to the Facebook homepage without even realizing what I have done. It seemed like natural instinct to me, to pull out my phone and head towards social media sites.
This habit has been ingrained into me. With easy access to technology, it’s been ingrained into most of us in modern society. Why can’t we get enough of social media and are always glued to our cell phones? Are we mindless slaves to social media? And are we slaves to our smartphones?
Cell phone use and availability have been on the rise over the past two decades. Almost everyone has a smartphone nowadays with internet access, even small children. Modern smartphones are a million times more powerful than the computers used to navigate the moon landing but are we making good use of the technology? We have all this power at our fingertips but do we even use these devices to improve ourselves or make the world a better place?
Smartphones are making us addicted to instant gratification and dopamine (the feel-good chemical naturally produced in the brain when it feels rewarded). These phones enter us into a world of clickbait articles, social media and viral videos. Instant gratification through mindless scrolling. How many times have you logged into social media only to see a picture of some meme from a person you hardly even know or a picture of what they had for breakfast?
Have you ever clicked on a link to an article that’s completely useless and irrelevant for you like clickbait articles and celebrity gossip? Modern news sites are dumbing down their content to acquire more clicks and focus on quantity over quality. We should use our handheld technology to seek out content that’s useful for us. Content that makes us think for ourselves.
We can get dopamine from a huge variety of things, anything from hearing a cool song to seeing a funny picture or unlocking a new character in a game. Game and app developers are creating content designed to constantly trigger dopamine hits and keep users addicted. Have you ever seen someone play candy crush or pokemon go for hours on end and never get bored of it?
Though cheap dopamine hits can feel good temporarily and provide instant gratification, it can lead to addiction and emptiness, always seeking more empty pleasures that don’t lead to fulfillment. Smartphone addiction is a real cause for concern. Many individuals would rather play games and check tweets and statuses on their phone instead of dealing with real-life and human interaction.
We’ve replaced real human interaction with social media apps and its creating toxic meaningless relationships with each other. A screen can’t replace authentic human personal relationships.
We need to wake up and pull back the curtain. We no longer own our phones, our phones own us. Become free from rampant smartphone usage and start today by reducing your use. Limit what content you spend your time on and focus on long term quality instead of quantity.
Use your phone to read a book, learn a new topic, create something of value and master your craft. Find a job, or a new hobby, call your true friends and family instead of just shooting a simplistic text. Put the technology to good use. We shouldn’t avoid all social media and cell phone use. Moderation is key when it comes to filling our time with certain entertainment. Let’s focus on the things that are actually important to us.
—
Photo: iStockPhoto