Forget Smartphone Addiction. Here's What Experts Are Really Worried About

It’s not the smartphone in your hand. It’s not the tablet or the laptop. Reports about shiny objects captivating us all day miss the mark by a long shot. Apple is not to blame for making a useful phone, and Google is not to blame for the wide assortment of gadgets that use the Android operating system, like the Pixel 2 smartphone.

What’s to blame instead?

It’s an excessive desire to collect micro-feedback about ourselves. Experts have found that we’re constantly checking for feedback, and it’s addictive. One even said social media is a drug that causes addiction. It’s not the gadget itself, it’s the micro-reward we crave.

I noticed this when I was waiting in line at a coffee-shop. Everyone was flipping through their social media feeds. We’re not that into photography and cat videos, are we? What tends to get most people excited is when they see a comment on one of their posts, or a heart on an Instagram photo. We’re addicted to seeing digital rewards; each one releases a small drop of dopamine in our brains, and it can happen every few seconds.

That’s why apps like Snapchat and Instagram are rising in popularity even more so than Twitter and Facebook. Micro-feedback taps into our desire as humans to be noticed, to be credited, to experience recognition. As society becomes more and more insular, more cocooned with media and gadgets, we’re all looking for more feedback on our phones because we’re certainly not getting feedback in person. When was the last time someone told you in person that you posted an amazing photo, or that you look awesome, or that you finished a work task on time? We all know the best bosses are the ones that give positive feedback regularly, but no one could ever compete with the feedback loop in social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat. Sadly, when we don’t get enough of this dopamine hit–say, no one notices a photo we posted–we also get depressed.

Mark Zuckerberg didn’t quite acknowledge this problem in a recent Congressional hearing. But a former Facebook exec certainly did, essentially saying the feedback loop from apps like Facebook are contributing to the decay of society in general. The younger you are, the more you crave the reward, and the more depressed you get when it doesn’t arrive.

What can help?
My advice is to schedule your social media sessions. Maybe you review accounts early in the morning, and you avoid getting addicted all day. The issue here is that we’re often tired when we finally get to the mall or have to wait in line at the coffee-shop, so we pull out the phone and start looking for micro-feedback to deal with boredom and routine. That’s when it really causes the most problems and when we turn into digital zombies.

I also recommend going on a digital fast. Take an entire month off from social media if you can, and see how it impacts your day and how much you interact with people in person.

Yet, more than anything, it’s all about a simple realization. You have to remind yourself, every time you check an account, get an email, finish a level in a game, or discover a wonderful new product on Etsy that you are in a feedback loop. The gadget is a tool, but the apps are clearly tapping into something else. You’re collecting micro-rewards.

Our phones are stuck to our hands like glue. It’s a little scary. The devices are useful and helpful, especially in a work setting. It’s the micro-feedback that’s causing the problems. Using phones for actual work, actual conversation–and avoiding the trap of looking for digital rewards–can help you find a better balance for how you use the devices.

PUBLISHED ON: APR 21, 2018
Inc.

So true:D:D:D:D:D

Took me about 45 secs of sloppy trimming and your post could have easily been this short.:smiley:

Good point lakini. Dopamine ni tamu.

add whatsapp status - how many people have seen it, ktalk likes…

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Dopamine from muosho moja…

So true.

Very true. An interesting concept by the way. The way behavioural psychology inatumika kwa biz nowadays is very interesting. Look at how people sell hope and become rich- Shabiki mbaoo_O, how simple games on social networks are used to drive political agendas - Cambridge Analytics, how perfection, inadequacies and keeping up with the Joneses are used to drive sales - makeup industry, penis enlargement, social media(nani ameenda wapi? Nani anafanya job wapi?)

Ata ktalk ni addictive. Once you are an S.V you eye the V.E getting there you aim for V.S…likes, quotes etc.

All this emanates from the experiences we had as children and tolders-the validation or absence thereof, from parents, appreciation of our talents and capabilities, delegation of roles, presence in our lives…in short, if as a kid your parents created a very solid environment to ensure you learn, have fun and thrive safely, coupled with your temperaments, the less likely it is you will have to go through this scenario of ‘social media addiction’

By the way, I know there are double identities in Ktalk, lakini kuna robots hapa pia?

The only reason am here is it’s the only place I can be childish. I guess that’s my addiction. I however don’t see myself ever getting to VS --not that I care about titles online. I’ll have moved on to other things/sites/addictions.

The only constant in my online life has been YouTube so far and am trying to cut that too.

Switch of the identifiable addictive creating options from default setting, such as feedback tally, get then by request.

Apps are designed by default to make them addictive. Ama unadhani mbona ktalk notifications are in red n not green?

Recently regulation of the Internet has come to the fore of public debate as an issue that both governments and internet users are concerned about, if websites / forums/ apps don’t self-regulate on their own accord by addressing issue of public concern, which includes causes of addiction, in due time they will be compelled by legislation which could have far reaching consequences.

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Too much common sense