Mass media has broadened itself over time to include a variety of sources such as books, newspapers, radio, and television. Each have served their own purposes in informing, entertaining, or educating their consumers. Often they were obtained and shared by a family or household. The advent of mobile devices, however, has changed media consumption entirely. Meant for personal use and including every other form of media, these technological tyrants demand more attention and time than any media before it. They contain infinitely more books, songs, videos, and articles than have ever been available, and allow instant communication between fellow mobile owners at anytime: night or day.

While excited to use and interact with these new devices, it’s worth putting some thought into how we interact with them.

Mobile media is showing us that we can certainly have too much of a good thing. For the sake of argument, I’ll combine internet use, social media, and smartphone statistics to discuss the idea of mobile media.

An insightful precursor to mobile media’s dominance is its rapid growth and popularity. It’s seen unprecedented growth; defying all expectations when compared with media that has come before it. The MIT Technology Review found that smartphones have outpaced every other form of mass media. It took us more than 60 years to fully adopt the telephone, but only 11 to adopt the smartphone. While the data is not currently available, it was also reported that mobile tablets are being adopted even faster.

Not surprisingly, social media has experienced similarly explosive growth. It’s most popular among young adults ages 18–29, but the Pew Internet Research group shows that only 9% of young adults used social media in 2005. An unexpected spike came in the year 2006, however, when usage among these ages grew to 49% within one year.

So, what causes these spikes? We‘ve gone centuries without needing to know what our friends were eating for dinner.

An often overlooked aspect of mobile media is the possibility of the development of technology addiction. Another poll by Pew Internet Research introduces this idea. They found that “67% of cell owners find themselves checking their phone for messages, alerts, or calls — even when they don’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating,” and that 44% sleep with their phones to avoid missing notifications. More importantly, “29% of cell owners describe their cell phone as something they can’t imagine living without.” A separate study among several hundred teenagers found that nearly a quarter of them were spending significant amounts of time on social networking sites and returning to them very frequently. 2% of those youth were labelled as having “problematic use” that interfered with “academic, co-curricular, social, and interpersonal activities.” When multiplied across the many teenagers frequenting social networking sites across the globe, that 2% and 24% quickly adds up to tens of millions of addicted users.

Though unlikely, addiction could be one of the forces that keeps users coming back. Either way, we are using smartphones a lot. Maybe too much, actually. Consider the following.

The comprehension of information in important situations such as work and school can be hampered by mobile technologies. When a group of 300 students were monitored for 15 minutes while studying, it was found that most students could not stay on task for more than an average of three minutes. The majority of distractions came from technology. The researcher, Larry Rosen, found that students who checked Facebook even once during that 15-minute study session were worse students than those who did not. As regular schooling and studies become more entrenched in online applications, this issue is magnified.

While a group of students watched an informational video, Rosen sent them either zero, four, or eight text messages and then tested them on their comprehension of the video. Students who received no messages scored the highest. Students who received eight messages scored the lowest. There was, however, a variety of results among the students that received four messages. When the viewers decided to respond made the difference in this group. If they waited for an appropriate time, rather than responding immediately, they would miss less information and score better on the test.

Self-restraint and conscious control of the available technology made the difference in moderate phone users.

Now consider how often we consume multiple forms of media the same time. The Google Multiscreen Study observed that 81% of people used their smartphones while viewing television, 66% used their smartphone with their laptop, and 66% used their laptop while viewing television. According to Rosen’s research, every instance of simultaneous technology use decreases the comprehension of the media being presented. When applied to work presentations, academic lectures, and general conversations, these trends point to an overall decrease in awareness and a poor quality of comprehension.

Waiting until a pause in the meeting, a lull in the lecture, or a break in the conversation to check messages and notifications will increase understanding and performance in each of these situations.

Also important is the time of day that technology is used. If users are frequently using their smartphones during meetings and social engagements, they are also likely to use them late at night. Given that most smartphone use occurs after 9:00 pm, it is not surprising that smartphone use is one of the leading causes of sleep deprivation. Late night technology use has a direct impact on work performance the following day. As described by Klodiana Lanaj, sleep deprivation can deplete “self-control resources” that help suppress negative reactions in work situations. Though many consumers may not realize the effect their late-night YouTube marathons have on their daily routine, these observations can likely be applied across the board of social and academic performance as well.

Get more out of your meetings, get better grades, and give more attention to those you speak with by being smart about your smartphone use. Wether addicted or not, think about how you use your devices, and especially think about how you should be using them.