Digital Addiction

Anu Vehkamäki
Nov 3 · 4 min read

We use technology to keep up with the world and our own lives in the form of services like online news and calendars. Our smartphones have become an extension of our minds — no, they’ve become an extension of our whole being. You feel literally naked and detached from reality when you can’t feel the box made from metal and plastic in your back pocket. Now, you might think that this doesn’t concern you. That this is the problem of the Generation Z, the youth who have grown up with this modern technology. Only they are the ones struggling with the addiction to screens.

A recent study indeed shows that half of the American teens between 13–17 years are concerned about their own usage of technology and have tried to limit the use of their mobile phones, social media or video games. But there’s an alarming other side of the coin; 36% of the teens’ parents who also participated in the research admitted spending too much time on their phones themselves and half of the teens felt that their parents are often distracted by their phones in the middle of conversations. Another worrying sign is that the average person checks their phone 150 times a day. This is strong evidence that this problem concerns us all, regardless of our age.

We lead by example, or at least we try to lead. What kind of example are we giving to the generations coming after us? The younger generations may actually cope better with digitalisation as they are taught to be more aware of the time spent online. Parents were not educated about the dangers of technology when they were growing up. Older generations are only concerned about their children’s technology usage, and as adults they themselves are entitled to unlimited screen time and don’t see the addiction they are in fact suffering from.

You’re not alone. And it is not a sign of weakness to get addicted to technology, it’s purposely designed to do exactly that. The more time you use on an app or website, the more money someone else makes for examples through commercials and data mining. All the apps on your phone are competing to get your attention for as long as possible, and they use human psychology to do this. Our addiction means profit for tech companies. The addictiveness is created through rewards like in gambling. You either get an instant reward or nothing. The chance of winning gives us a rush and losing only makes us want to win (and play) even more.

In the context of apps, the actions of the user are linked to the changing rewards. Sometimes you get a match on a dating app, a “like” on a picture you posted, a notification of a received message or some other reward from the actions you made on the app. It is not about the people who’s likes and comments we want, it is about the dopamine rush we get when we receive a notification from a like or a comment. Dopamine is a hormone that motivates people to achieve a certain outcome. It is a motivational hormone through which we are conditioned to want and need feedback from our technology. And when the technology fulfils those needs, we realise we can’t live without it.

Lately we’ve seen an uprising in the field of digitalisation. May it be due to the fact that people are more and more aware of the downsides of using too much technology or the pressure made by the legislation that are finally catching up (for example GDPR), tech companies have started to incorporate digital ethics into their products and services. Many phones nowadays have features like “do not disturb” -mode or adjustable app access limitations that help the user to control their screen time.

People are also taking responsibility for their own health and the trend of “digital detox” has risen. During this detox period, people restrain themselves from using for example social media platforms, certain apps or even phones altogether. The aim is to engage with technology in a more healthier way. But is this really enough? You don’t tell a person suffering from alcoholism to try to just drink a bit less. Addictions, regardless of its kind, need to be dealt with appropriate seriousness. In addition, the trend of digital detox itself is a business striving to make profit through self-help books, seminars, retreats and all kinds of other marketable content. In this light, the reliability of the digital detox methods can be questioned as the end goal is not only to help people but also to make money. Maybe the responsibility should be on the companies creating the technology and not on the individual user. Though, slot machine manufacturers and alcohol producers are not accountable for the misuse of their products. Why should digital addiction be different?

We need fundamental changes in our society. We need to distribute the responsibility to public healthcare, the individual user and the tech companies. At this point, digital addiction is a new phenomenon which hasn’t yet even been defined. Currently in Finland the closest addiction defined to digital addiction is “internet addiction” which hasn’t either been unambiguously determined. It also entails only the compulsory need to spend time online for example on chats, forums or sex sites. Internet addiction doesn’t include for example addiction to apps and is only a small part of all the different kinds of addictions people have to technology. The first step is to define and raise awareness about digital addiction and its different forms. Give the people suffering from this a clear diagnosis which acts as a starting point in getting better.

Social Media Writings

This is the forum for writings about social media phenomena. The texts are part of Social Media course at Aalto University. Some of the texts are anonymous.

Anu Vehkamäki

Written by

Social Media Writings

This is the forum for writings about social media phenomena. The texts are part of Social Media course at Aalto University. Some of the texts are anonymous.

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