MILLENNIAL KEY LEARNINGS — June 25, 2020
Published in
2 min readJun 26, 2020
Concerns around the growing ‘addiction’ towards Digital Devices
- The current crisis presents a challenging state of affairs, where increased digital dependency is of prime importance to maintain the continuity of work projects, as well as, education, and other essential services.
- However, apart from the necessary routine, the present practices of increased adoption of digital technologies/ platforms have resulted in some serious consequences.
- India is, now, home to more than 680 million active users of the internet. And around 54% of the Indian internet user base was between 20 and 39 years old in early 2019.
- Social media usage is common amongst Indian youth and it increased by 87% during the lockdown.
- According to a report, “…in 2020, the highest number of WhatsApp and TikTok mobile app downloads in the world were from India. The average internet user in the country spends over three hours per day on social media. And a large proportion of this user base were millennials and gen Z. In 2018, over 73% of Facebook users in India were between 18 and 24 years of age.”
- It has also been noted that 65% of the younger population has become ‘addicted’ to electronic devices, and that 50% struggled not to use such devices within just 30 minutes of inactivity. The report also noted that television viewership increased by 38%.
- As a result, around 45% of young people have observed a detrimental effect on their sleep pattern due to reduced physical activity and increased screen times.
- The situation has become worse with the current crisis leading to increased digital interaction due to a rise in working hours with the new work from home routines, online classes, and an even higher dependency on OTT platforms as a result of limited outdoor activity leading to a risk of developing myopia, and other such disorders.
- A telemedicine professional reported a 30% increase in complaints of eye strain, dry or itchy eyes, headache, blurred vision and physical and mental fatigue.
- There’s also been a rise in incidences of ‘no mobile phone phobia’.
- Considering how nuanced the current situation is, there is an immediate need for initiating responsible use of technology in order to strike a balance between the merits and potential demerits of digital technology.
- “The need to stay connected, while we’re apart, is laying the foundation for a dangerous relationship, reliant on digital devices. It’s imperative to create a balance between our real lives and online personas to keep us grounded and healthy, especially during such trying times.” — Drishti Sengupta, Reputation Analyst — Digital Specialist at The Mavericks.
