BRANDAN’S SECRETS REVEALED!!!!!! BIGGEST SCANDAL SINCE WATERGATE?!?
Over the past week, I have been using the app Moment to study two key things about my phone usage, in order to see if it may have addictive effects on me that cause me to use it more. The results were shocking: the number of times I have turned it on and unlocked it (specifically called “pickups” in the app) and screen time. In total, I picked up my phone 631 recorded times in the week, totally up as an average of 90.14 times a day. The most amount of times [TD1] I did so was the 22nd, where the number of pickups was 101, slightly less than 11 more than the weekly average. Meanwhile, for the amount of screen time over the week, I was on my phone a total of 35 hours and 38 minutes, with the average amount of screen time being slightly over 305 minutes a day, or slightly over 5 hours a day. The longest time I was on my phone was the 22nd, at 5 hours and 32 minutes.
The part that stuck out most to me was the number of pickups, specifically because it never occurred to me how often I turn my phone on and off. I always knew I used my phone a great deal, though 6 hours a day is still somewhat shocking. With how often I stop and start my phone, however, it never occurred to me how quickly it all added up. I think it mostly shows that, yes, I do have an addiction to my phone, a constant need to be on it, whether it be just to text someone real quick or to spend a few hours doing whatever I can think of to take the edge off of the hardships of the life of a college student.
The Iphone’s ability to make people feel happier could be related to its variable rewards. To make these rewards. they create dopamine, which is described as the “feel good” chemical, and cortisol, or the stress hormone. The point of the majority of phone apps, such as the internet and games, is to have “stickiness,” or to draw peoples attention to it for as long as possible. To create stickiness, they must draw on both of the chemicals. Through dopamine they create an addiction, making the user want to be on their phone, and specifically that app, for as long as possible. Meanwhile, the cortisol makes the user feel antsy and stressed without the app, even making people feel stressed when they receive a notification.
