By Claudia Mumo
People communicated more when telephones were tethered to wires – Anonymous
Smartphone use is a defining characteristic of the 21st century. They were once the preserve of millennials who had too much time to waste on frivolity, but are now part of nearly everyone’s lives. A 2017 study by Jumia Business Intelligence stated that about 60 per cent of Kenyans own a smartphone, mostly owing to the drop in prices of the gadgets.
The mobile phone, once a tool for basic communication – calls and text messages – has developed into a device that brings together multiple tools in a convenient package. We don’t have to carry cameras, calculators, calendars and maps separately.
Lightening physical loads is one side of the story. Many studies have been published on the negative effect that smartphones and their communication tools have on face-to-face communication. Some psychologists have tried to have nomophobia (mobile phone addiction) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – the official guide for recognised mental health problems, and diagnostic and treatment procedures. With reported symptoms that can lead to deterioration of social life outside the virtual world, nomophobia is potentially a big deal.
However, Deloitte’s Global Mobile Consumer Survey of 2017 suggests caution when describing phones as addictive or overused. Globally, people look at their smartphones at least 50 times every day – an understandable amount considering smartphones act as maps, wristwatches, cameras and so much more.
Addiction is a term that, like many others in this era of hyperbole, is used so often that its meaning has been diluted. Nowadays the word is used to describe anything that people do often because it gives them some sort of gratification. People who like eating chocolate are called chocaholics, running enthusiasts are called jogaholics.
The term actually refers to a psychological dependence that results from using certain substances or performing some actions. Addiction is a result of the brain marinating in dopamine after getting something that makes you happy. In its purest sense, addiction will cause actual physiological change in the way the brain operates. The brain gets used to the dopamine flood, and cannot operate properly without it, leading to the cravings and full-body symptoms that are seen most often in drug addicts who are trying to quit. Using mobile phones does not result in the same dopamine release that, for instance, a smoker gets after lighting a cigarette.
There are studies that show smartphones are a genuine problem. A particular study by MIT carried out in the US and France found that some people experience physiological withdrawal symptoms such as increased heart rate and blood pressure when their phones were taken away for a day. These physiological reactions were then considered the symptoms of an addiction problem.
But is it the phones that we are getting addicted to? And is it everyone that is getting addicted to phones? Smart devices – phones, tablets, home, cars – are all a means to an end. The most common use for phones, second to making calls, is social media. Text messages have been replaced by ‘DMs’ on every social media platform. Phone calls are being replaced by FaceTime and WhatsApp video calls. These are the things that people are getting addicted to. The mobile phone isn’t the problem; it is the interactions that we have transferred from physical face-to-face into a mobile-mediated space.
Interaction with the world is being forced through the narrow tunnel of social media. One-on-one relationships are being expanded to twitter threads and Instagram stories calling each other ‘boo’ and ‘bae’. The existence of smartphones has only made it easier to interact with one another; the feeling of validation that we get from face to face interactions have simply been spread wider by the phone.
Majority of the people on social media are competing to show off who has a better life, leading to feelings of inadequacy and depression in those that don’t measure up. Those that are seen as successful take a liking to the validation they get from all the likes, retweets and follows.
The search for validation from faceless people hiding behind online avatars is the cause of any sort of dependence that people have on their phones. How often do you check your phone just for the heck of it? Is it not a reflexive compulsion after getting so used to notification pinging every few minutes, that an hour without them feels like you are hard of hearing?
We must be careful not to confuse overuse and addiction. Addiction is a physiological and psychological reaction that makes it near-impossible for someone to change their behaviour. The way mobile phones are used today does not result in the same dopamine flood that happens when addicts spark up a cigarette.
Mobile phones are being used to mediate social interactions, make them faster and bring them closer. They are an alternative route to the same conversations that people have each day: the platitudes, the expressions of support, the encouragement, and the undertones of jealousy that make us feel like we are doing better than everyone else. It may look like we don’t want to put our phones down, but if it comes to it; we can walk away from our screens anytime. We put them away for prayers and classes. We can stop using our phones at any time without any adverse or lasting physical or psychological effects.
Claiming that overuse of mobile phones is addictive takes away from the millions of people who are struggling with addictions that physiologically and psychologically break them.
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