Digital Addiction: An Introduction
A series of posts examining the effects of our digital way of life
Hello Friends 👋
Let’s get right to it…
Welcome to Project 21st's summer series of posts about society's battle with digital addiction. Immediately, I know what you're thinking, "I do not need more condemnation for my shortcomings with technology." I totally agree, which is why the next post will be about my shortcomings. But until then, we have a few details to cover.
Digital has a straightforward Merriam-Webster definition: of, relating to, or utilizing devices constructed or working by the methods or principles of electronics. This adjective appears in the following ways: digital world, digital market, digital media, digital device, but not so often digital addiction. This word will be the focus of our study.
Furthermore, we will use the word technology often, as it is the more popular buzzword to describe anything digital. I chose not to include technology in the title of this series because we have morphed the word's meaning. The Greek words "techne" and "logos" created our English word technology. Techne means art, skill, craft, or how things are gained. Logos means how you express your inner thoughts. Thus, technology means words or discourse about how things are gained, and it is more about a whole process than describing an end result.
Our focus will undoubtedly include this technological process, but we will spend most of our time studying the effects of our current digital world.
Digital devices paved the way for another concept called the internet, or "being online." Technology is the process, digital is the gateway, and the internet is the outcome. Americans spend around 6 hours and 30 minutes daily on the internet, not including other smartphone activities like texting, calling, etc., and other computer activities like spreadsheets, documents, etc.
Our discussion might seem simplistic, but we must return to the basics to re-educate ourselves on what we have created and, more importantly, why we created it. The essence of every new feature with digital devices is to make your life easier and less stressful. That has never been the case.
In reality, the opposite is true. You have heard all of the statistics, warnings, cautions, red flags, etc., of the adverse effects of our digital world. But it's like telling a teenager that driving too fast is dangerous - until something terrible happens, nothing will change.
Very rarely does a catastrophic event happen while someone is on the internet (or so we think). People use the metaphor, "You won't touch a hot stove twice," about learning a lesson. There is no such thing as a lesson in physical pain when you're online. Everything online happens intrinsically and almost in an abstract way.
As a result, we learn on the internet by mentally adapting. If something is damaging, we mitigate the pain by immediately looking at something else to ease our mind. I'd compare it to physically stubbing my toe, instantly taking a painkiller, and then trying to get up and run around the room again.
How did this come to be? The internet allowed large technology companies to create ways to keep people online. They did this by offering a platform service where users typically sign up for free and then pay in the form of their attention. In the next post, we will discuss modern platforms more in-depth, but it's important to note that platforms are the ultimate cause of disruption in our digital lives.
Platforms have ushered in a world where harmful content is just one scroll away. From personal experience, a continual feed of content desensitizes my mind and creates a want for more - like Oxycontin after a stubbed toe. When humans perform an action to the point of accepting the harm, we call this an addiction.
Smoking & Scrolling
One comparison I will reference throughout this series is the similarities between smoking and digital addictions. For previous generations, smoking was a social activity. It gave you a good sensation and allowed you to take a break from whatever you were doing…
Does that sound familiar?
It sounds a whole lot like the internet breaks we take. We know how the story of smoking goes; as soon as people realized smoking was hazardous, the perception turned from fun to harmful. In my life, I have seen smoking sections in public places disappear, like it was iTunes on my computer.
It will take more time, but I think people are waking up to the mental harm internet platforms are causing. Who is to say my grandkids won't ridicule me for being on something like social media like we have previous generations for smoking? My grandparents were naive to the effects of smoking, and I can't help but think, am I naive to my mind's decay from my digital addiction?
What I don't want to do is take a "holier than thou" stance and cast shame over previous generations for their shortcomings. I get uneasy when that is anyone's agenda. Read one piece of history from any period, and you'll quickly discover we're all swimming in a pool of hypocrisy because narratives change at an exponential pace.
So instead of looking at how our current society is correct compared to the past, we need to change the lens and pluck the plank out of our eye. We have to wake up to the effects of our digital addiction.
I hope you join me this summer as we continue to work through what this means!
Personal Reflection
In correlation with this series of posts, I am embarking on a summer-long social media fast. Since June 1st, I have not looked at Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. It is the longest I have gone without checking one of the three since I got my Facebook account in 2008.
What have I found in my first three weeks? I instinctively replaced my time on social media with another platform on my phone. Even if social media wasn't available (I deleted Safari, too), I still have plenty of ways to entertain myself on the internet. Now, I would argue the things I was looking at were way more beneficial than social media, but this proves the fact that I'm simply addicted to my digital device, regardless of what the outlet is.
This isn't very encouraging because there are so many benefits to being on social media. Yet, it's often the first to get the cold shoulder because of the apparent negative effects. My fiancée showed me a really encouraging post from one of my friends the other day that I would otherwise have wanted to see. Why would I deliberately choose to miss this?
The problem lies beyond social media in that I have a digital addiction that I need to overcome. But it starts with learning how to focus on social media, where most of my time is spent. I have a long way to go to overcome this addiction, and I'm wondering if there is ever a way to quit altogether (like the solution to smoking).
I hope chronicling my journey will help you to seek out any addictive relationship you have with your digital world. A day is coming when people will have to get serious help in learning how to cope with digital addictions, and it will take a generation of people who have overcome its effects to help those in need.
But, as of right now, I need help.
🚨HELPFUL RESOURCE ALERT🚨
My fiancee sent me this excellent post one of her friends put together about making her smartphone "dumb." If you're interested in making strides against digital addiction, this is a fantastic article on ways to do that:
Very relatable and thought provoking!