Addiction to smartphones
The use of weapons destroyed the youth of thousands of people during World War II. Violence left an irreparable mark on the growth of a generation ravaged by fear and ignorance. A patriotic sentiment forced adolescents to give up their originality and distinctiveness to become pawns of a system they did not choose.
doomed to travel in a delusion to feel like a community.
Psychological control had been established over the masses, especially over the young who had not yet developed critical thinking.
That armament, which previously turned people into ignorant flocks, now occupies the nicest spot on bedside tables.
We’ve let them into our life and our privacy. . They don’t kill, but they have slowly entered our lives, becoming one of the greatest plagues in history. exercising a silent cruelty that is very difficult to recognize. It’s about smartphone addiction, or nomophobia.
According to the European Institute of Health and Social Welfare,
in 2020, 7.6 million Spaniards considered themselves addicted to their devices. These trends have been increasing during the pandemic, resulting in the conversion to a new digital age much more extreme than the 2000s. The average social network user checks the latest updates and/or publications as soon as he wakes up.Even before waking up, the consumer wakes up with the brightness of the screen, ingesting the first dose of unnecessary information, and, after this, starts the day. Nomophobia, as established by the Fundéu, is the fear of not being with the mobile phone. This fear has become very normalized. Likewise, it is true that they say that the screens bring us closer to those who are far away and take us away from those who are nearby. And, in short, they also take us away from ourselves.
It is interesting to analyze the reason for this fact. We have become prisoners of something that consumes our lives without us realizing it. On the one hand, we find the benefits of using digital tools: unlimited entertainment—whether books, music, series,, etc. ,ietc.—instantnstant connectivity around the world, a new space in which to courselves, a spaceelves, in which to appear something that we are not… On the other hand, there is the pressure that society exerts on you. Assuming this assumption, we can confirm that the source of the problem is social media.
We have forgotten how to relate.
Those of us who belong to Generation Z—born between 1997 and 2015—have an unimaginable world without technologies. not only because of the lack of distraction that would mean but also because of the way in which our social circles would be reduced. That is, social networks connect us. It is increasingly common to find a group of friends with common interests because applications such as MeetMe or Skout allow it. It is even more common to use them to have ephemeral sexual encounters. The so-called “liquid love” theory, which I will discuss later, is a direct result of this.Regarding the above, if social networks disappeared, we would lose the tools with which we have learned to relate. Would we then isolate ourselves in the few real friendships that we would keep?
We don’t love each other as we are; we want to be what others want us to be.
We must inevitably question the reality of the image we present in digital tissues.We allow ourselves to create an insincere profile with which we intend to please others. We rely on external validation because we have forgotten to do it ourselves. We don’t want each other as we are; we want what others want us to be. We limit ourselves to an ideal that prevents us from being ourselves and showing what we want.
We choose our best perspective, images in fitting rooms with things we won’t buy, songs we don’t listen to… who has smartphone addiction?
Thus, we alienate ourselves from our uniqueness.
becoming a social media doll subject to unattainable trends and prototypes.
digital walls that conceal us
Liquid love
Our relationships have also been digitized. The station is boring, and faster connections are sought. This is known as “liquid love,” a term coined by the Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. This explains why new relationships lack quality and solidity. It establishes that an increasing inclination for passenger links is developing. The flirting apps (Tinder, Grindr, Badoo, etc.) and smartphone addiction are to blame for this. In our consumerist world, we are disposable products.
Many struggle to find the right individual.
These apps classify based on tastes, geography, and more, making your ideal partner 500 meters away.
We forget that there is no “perfect mate” and condemn any conduct we disagree with in the pursuit for it. This is how we enter a loop in which we are constantly discarded.
Another reason for the popularity of this type of service is the need we have developed for it. On social networks,who smartphone addiction we compete to attract the attention of as many people as possible. Many times, if this does not happen as we want, we get into a spiral of self-boycotting that we only get out of by uploading another photo. This has led thousands of young people to fall into depression and low self-esteem. to think that they are not enough because the boy or girl they like hasn’t shown them any interest. We condemn ourselves.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death.
The consequences are evident: psychological problems, sleep disorders, eating disorders, etcetera. Last year, youth suicide became one of the leading causes of death, above the coronavirus. This data is devastating. Our generation is sending a distress signal that no one perceives. In short, many people blame the adolescents themselves for this procedure, which further aggravates the situation. Who would blame a gambler for his addiction if not someone who doesn’t see that the real problem is bookmakers?
The economic fortune they have generated from this business is not the most valuable thing we have given them. It is the ability to consume our time and attention without remorse, to absorb our life and energy.
In this case, on the other hand, those bookmakers have legs, arms, and an insatiable devotion to subdue the population. These are the creators of digital devices and applications such as Mark Zuckerberg (executive director of Meta Platforms) or Zhang Yiming (creator of TikTok). These are, among others, the main culprits in the situation we are going through. They are the ones who have stuck the screen to your eyes—you who are reading this right now. The economic fortune they have generated from this business is not the most valuable thing we have given them. It is the ability to consume our time and attention without remorse, to absorb our life and energy.
I should also note that smartphone addiction is usually only associated with youngsters under 30, when it should be more widespread.
We would have to have digitally sharing parents.
The aunt who plays Candy Crush level 4637 and the goalkeeper who barely looks up as you cross the portal are invisible realities we should be aware of.
Possible solutions
After listing all the drawbacks of smartphones, you must present the solutions.
Many phones allow you to change their screens black and white in the settings.
Muting notifications stops the constant vibration.
We can temporarily disable our accounts to quit social media.
smartphone addict
We can permanently erase our profiles.
Therapy can resolve our social media abuse and theirs.
A long-taboo topic can be a turning point if it’s always useful.
In short, people are currently fighting against our own invention. We must be aware that we fight against an invisible addiction. We will only achieve this through education and awareness-raising. We are facing a war against ourselves. We must correct this before history books say “mobile phones murdered the youth of thousands of persons throughout the second millennium of human existence.
