Are phones making us anti-social? Maybe giving us radiation-induced cancer in our brains? Perhaps making us cyborgs?
I’m not exactly sure about any of that, but what I can certainly be sure of is that we are completely addicted to the bloody things. I think now it’s time to start talking more about the problems they cause. My personal favourite is them making half the youth population’s posture comparable to a prawn, although not all of them are as silly.
How about your mental health? That’s a pretty important one. Mobile phone addiction is becoming more and more accepted as a serious psychosocial condition (much like depression or substance abuse). It’s also linked to depressive and lonely behaviours in adults. They are making us anti-social but under the guise of being ‘social’ online. Jonathan Heidt said it best, and I’m paraphrasing here, “It’s like swapping out an incredibly well-rounded diet for one that only consists of white rice, yes it’s the same caloric intake, but you’re missing all the other important nutrients”. That sums up what online social interaction is, bland and missing substance. It just can’t offer us the same value as the real thing (much like trying to replicate grandma’s cookies, it just doesn’t work mate).
You can probably tell that I feel strongly about this by now, and you’d be right. My stance is spurred on by the fact that I quit using social media 1 year ago, and far out I feel lighter, more confident and slightly more handsome? Well, perhaps not the latter but you get the point. So why not give it a crack like I did. Get rid of them and take stock of how you feel after a few weeks. It certainly has the potential to change your life. It did for me.
