Recently I participated in a Google’s workshop regarding Analytics and Digital trends. What made me post this topic on the blog is the following lecturer’s question to the participants: “If you had to delete all the applications from your smartphone and keep only one, which would that be and why?”. More than 50% of the participants replied that they would keep Whatsapp because they use it for chatting only with their most valuable friends and they don’t feel spammed by advertisements. At first I was impressed because I thought that Instagram for example is a way more popular social networking application and far more funny: photos and Instagram stories apart from chat.
After a couple of days I watched a video of an official TED conference: “Why our screens make us less happy?”
Psychologist Adam Alter studies how much time screens steal from our everyday lives. And indeed the amount of our personal time spending to our smartphones has increased from 2007. But the question is how enriching are the apps we use? Well, it was found that we spend in average 9 minutes per day in apps that make us feel better (education, weather, health, relaxation), whereas we spend 3 times longer (27 minutes) in apps that make us feel less happy (social networking, web browsing, gaming etc). So actually why we use them more? “Because news feed rolls on and everything is bottomless: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, text messaging, the news”
Trying to decrease the time we spend on our phones big firms got some great strategies like for example turning the workplace into a yoga or fitness studio twice a week or deleting emails sent to an employee while on vacation. Vodafone also launched a campaign (#Lookup) encouraging people to “keep their phone aside and have a real chat with friends”.
And all of these make me think of how new technologies has also changed people’s relationships. In a bad or in a good way?
References:
http://bestmediainfo.com/2017/08/vodafone-tells-us-to-keep-phone-aside-and-have-a-real-chat-with-friends-this-friendship-day/
Yes, this is like how people scroll through Instagram at lightning speed, mindlessly liking pictures while hardly seeing them, not? Or how people feel the need – as if it is work, which it might well be, mentally speaking – to ‘catch up’ on Facebook, as if one loses out on vital things without doing so. Not for nothing, there are people boldly announcing they will stop with Facebook for a year, or similar initiatives.
But while reading this, it struck me that it is quite ironic, for an article that ends mentioning a ‘Lookup’ campaign and how our personal relationships have changed, to probably never have this discussed in person. We’re (almost?) all sitting in one classroom – admittedly, a classroom with 300+ (?) different people, instead of 30 – and yet we only know, what, 5% of people at most? I know that it is unfeasible for it to be different, but it is a curious notion.
I am always a bit hesitant about people or companies who talk about the lack of “real” communication. That we – the millennials – never look up from our phones or know how to have a real life conversation anymore. The main reason I may be a bit apprehensive is because, for me, smartphones (and internet and social media) have greatly improved my communication with friends. I have spent abroad quite a few times, so I have made friends from all around the world. These are not friends I can see in real life every day, every week or even every year. But through social media, I am able to keep in touch with them. Say what you will, but that would not have been possible 20 years ago. Additionally, even with friends who live close by, apps like What’s App make communication SO much easier. We are all so busy and I see my friends way too little. Online communication is a great solution for a short catch up. I would say that these communication apps have made happier from a social perspective.
And, when we do meet in real life, most of my friends (and I) are happy to put our phones down for some quality conversations. Just because we often communicate online, does not mean we can’t talk anymore in real life.
The relationship between smartphone screens and ourselves is interesting as it is something that has only recently become an issue. For example, at night, it is quite unnatural for our eyes to stare at a light source from such a close distance, as it tricks our body into thinking it is daytime, making sleep more difficult after using a smartphone before going to bed. Numerous applications are working on solving this by reducing the “blue light” source from our screens. I am curious as to what other steps will be taken to reduce the burden of smartphones on us.
Interesting topic! I often wonder the same thing. Undeniably, smartphones do come with lots of benefits: easy and fast communication, endless applications, connected everywhere… However, from my personal observations on people I encountered, smartphones seem very addictive. We spend way too much time with our phones and laptops than with friends and family. People cannot stop scrolling down on their phone, and seem to be more interested in their electronic devices. It is making it harder for us to have a real talk face-to-face nowadays. Sometimes I get quite frustrated when I finally have the chance to meet my friends, all they do is chatting with someone else on their phone despite we haven’t seen each other for a long time.
Actually, more and more people have realised this problem in recent years. Campaigns like Vodafone #Lookup are great initiatives, but it’s hard to be sure how great its impact will be, and how will the impact sustain? There’s still a long way to go before changing the status quo. For many people who’re experiencing this, why not put down your phone and have an engaging conversation with the person next to you? Now.