The Downside of Smartphones

The Downside of Smartphones

Last month I wrote about smartphones and all the wonderful things you can do with one.  They do have a downside however, and I thought it would be interesting to write my thoughts on the matter!

I'll admit it; I use my smartphone all day long.   I check my email, texts, Facebook, apps for weather, look up addresses, listen to music and podcasts, take photos and call people with mine!

I'm not the only one who looks at my phone all the time, but I am an older user, so am also very aware of situations when they are not appropriate.   This is not the case with everyone.   I turn mine off every night, and switch to silent in restaurants, cinemas, theatres and during lessons!  I also try not to walk and text, and when with friends, would put my phone away.

In a study of 1,600 managers and professionals, Leslie Perlow, PhD, at the Harvard Business School, found that:

• 70% said they check their smartphone within an hour of getting up.
• 56% check their phone within an hour of going to sleep
• 48% check over the weekend, including on Friday and Saturday nights.
• 51% check their phone on holiday.
• 44% said they would experience "a great deal of anxiety” if they lost their phone and couldn't replace it for a week.

She has written a book entitled “Sleeping with your smartphone”, How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change the Way You Work.

It is not uncommon to reach for the phone as the first thing to do on waking, or to use a phone while on the loo!  (I wonder sometimes about the germs on them- this certainly is a negative!)

The amount of time that people are spending looking at their phones and their intense relationship with them raises the question 'why?’  We really have to ask what is so compelling about smartphones?  The answer is probably that they are addictive.

Computer technologies can be addictive because they're "psychoactive."  That is, they alter mood and often trigger enjoyable feelings. 

Email, in particular, gives us satisfaction due to what psychologists call "variable ratio reinforcement." That is, we never know when we'll get a satisfying email, so we keep checking, over and over again. It's like gambling – we are waiting to get a pleasurable result. 

Smartphones, of course, allow us to seek rewards (which includes photos, videos, news updates) anytime and anywhere.

This type of behaviour is not harmful until the addiction means that the phone is never turned off, and the person using it is always in a state of readiness in case it chimes or beeps because an email or a text or some other message or Facebook updates appears, and they are constantly checking.   Email protocol deems that they should be answered quickly, but 24 hours isn’t so long to wait- it doesn’t have to be instant!

Sleeping with a phone next to your bed can cause disruption to sleep as it may at any time make a noise, but is also emitting radiation, which could perhaps lead to health problems.

Walking while texting is dangerous and could lead to road traffic accidents, as people are distracted.  (They are also less likely to hear cars if the phone is being used as an iPod).  Texting while driving is not uncommon and so many people still use their phones without adequate hands free, and there have been some really tragic accidents.

I can’t help feeling a little sad when I look around me, especially amongst groups of young people when everyone seems to be looking at their phone rather than engaging with those around them.   Also being parted from a smartphone can cause some people huge anxiety.

Perhaps those of us who are heavy users should try one phone free day a month.  Maybe even take a holiday where there is no signal or Wi-Fi!