Today I talked with someone about Mobile and Social Media Addiction for the first time.
I was pursuing my goal of Facetime by catching up with a mate for coffee and a chat. I have to admit it was absolutely awesome! It really made me see the difference between sitting down with a good mate and having a chinwag, and the mindless banter of ‘online friends’
He was incredibly fascinated to hear about the link between compulsive mobile device usage and depression and anxiety.
The other really interesting thing we spoke about is the idea of mobile devices throwing off blue light that makes our brains think it’s daytime. This is particularly bad if you’re using your mobile late at night because you’re tricking your brain into thinking it’s daytime and this f4cks with your sleep patterns.
This made me smile as I remember seeing loads of updates from people on Facebook late at night posting that they can’t sleep. Put the phone down mo4herf4ckers!
Makes me realise that if they got off their mobiles, came back to the real world, got in touch with themselves and their circadian rhythms, they’re bound to get a decent night's sleep.
Whilst my mate didn’t understand the addiction to a mobile, he certainly understood how someone could get there.
We also talked about the younger generation and how two things seem to be a major influence on them.
- The instant gratification society we live in and
- Bite sized packets of information
It seems that the online world is all about now, now, now! Instant answers and faster speeds. Download that movie now or contact this person and get an instant reply...and if not, why not!
Has the way we communicate evolved faster than a speed our brains can handle?
If we look at the increase of road rage, line rage, impatience, instant gratification and the ‘I want it now’ attitude of people in general are we getting to a stage as a society that we’re expecting the offline world to travel as fast as the online world?
Technology seems to be rewriting the rules of time and how we deal with it offline.
With more and more of our communications becoming bite sized chunks of information, is this leading us to a world where we will need to be spoon fed information at intervals, combined with constant reminders and notifications to help us remember and cope with the overwhelming amount of information we have to process daily?
If I talk to some of my older friends who deal with younger people in the workforce, this certainly seems to be the trend.
Regular time away from our digital devices would help us aviod being sucked into the void of social media and mobiles
We have holidays from work, time away from loved ones, school breaks, lunch breaks, detox diets, alone time, weekends away, time in the shower, long drives, walks on the beach and the biggest break of all that we take every day - sleep.
If I asked most people “When was the last time you had a break from your mobile?” I wonder what their answer would be.
What would your answer be?