I'm trying something new this time. Well, it's not very new on this blockchain because more people are doing it already. I'm talking about sharing my thoughts on things.
I somehow always have a lot of ideas about all kinds of topics. But nowadays I seem to think more about things. It might be a midlife thing....
I have gathered quite some knowledge over the years, but I certainly don't have the idea that I know everything and that my point of view is 'the right one'. On the contrary... I've read a book recently that stated that we should reconsider more in life (Adam Grant - Think Again. See my short book review here. Adam states that you shouldn't get too attached on your own points of view and that reconsideration is very useful. Stay open and curious about viewpoint from others.

And what better place to reconsider things and exchange thoughts about different subjects and statements than on Hive?
Hive is a melting pot of many different people. Different ages, gender, backgrounds, race, upbringings, beliefs and so on.
A great place to exchange thoughts on different subjects.

That's why I decided to share these with you.
I hope you like the idea and would share your opinion with me and the other readers and that we can have nice discussions about the subject in the comments. Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject!

Share your thoughts! Reply in the comments!

Blessing or curse

Smartphones are great! You have an almost infinite amount of information in your pocket. With all the apps it's like a digital Swiss army knife. You can navigate, pay with it, make photographs, watch movies and besides that they also seem to be used to call people 😂
Like a lot of you, I've grown up without smartphones, even without mobile phones. I've never missed them back then. I remember seeing a Youtube video that dates from 1998 from a Dutch journalist that interviewed people on the streets and asked them whether they wanted a mobile phone.

As you can see, most of them didn't want one because they don't needed one. Most of them say it's not necessary and they don't want to be reachable all the time. How different are the streets nowadays, where smombies (smartphone zombies) walk around. When people have to wait for 5 minutes they grab their phone. Yes, we are addicted to them now! At least many people are. And I admit I am too.

Smartphone addiction

As I mentioned above, a lot of people are using their smartphones a lot. I didn't do much research, but I googled a bit and stumbled upon the following site:https://explodingtopics.com/blog/smartphone-usage-stats
They claim to have figures about the worldwide smartphone usage. And it showed me what I'd already expected: we're using our smartphones a lot!

Here are some of the figures:

• On average, people spend 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phones each day.
• On average, people check their phones 58 times per day.

Four hours is really long. And that is just an average! Just think about all the things you could do in those hours? People often complain there are too few hours in a day. When we stop using our smartphones we would have many more hours to spend. Even if we cut our smartphone use in half, it would give us a huge amount of extra time.
And 58 times a day is also a sign of addiction. Especially when you see the following breakdown they made:

They also made an interesting breakdown per country by the way. It's interesting to see the differences.

Apps and algorithms

It's actually not the phone itself that is addicting, it are the apps installed on them that are screaming for our attention. Apps designed to draw our attention. Apps designed to make us use the app as much and as long as possible to entertain us. But that is not why big tech is doing it. The more we use their apps, the more they earn!

The social media apps run on algorithms that know exactly what you like based on the likes you give, but also how long you take a look at a video or picture. But they also collect information based on your smartphone sensors like your GPS location. They know if you visit fastfood restaurants frequently or if you have a favorite shop. Some even use the camera to check what you are exactly looking at on your screen. They use this information to create a profile of you so they can offer you the best experience. At least, in their eyes, because the best experience is the one that makes you use their app frequently. Scary huh!? But it is you that has given them permission to do this just by installing their app.

Here is an overview of right the TikTok App (Disclaimer: I asked AI to make this list):

• Personal information: Such as date of birth, email address, phone number, profile photo, and videos.
• Location data: TikTok can track the device’s location.
• Profile information: Biography, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs.
• User content: Uploaded photos, videos, voicemails, and other content.
• Advertising and viewing behavior: Information about ads and videos viewed, as well as “likes.”
• Browsing history: The app can also track the user’s browsing history.
• Other data: Surveys, games, and other interactions.
• Access to camera and microphone: TikTok has access to the phone’s camera and microphone for making videos and recording audio.
• Access to storage: TikTok can save files on the phone.
• Network access: The app has internet access and can collect network data.
  
  
  These apps are designed to exploit human weaknesses. They trigger our brain to produce endorphins, a substance that gives us a feeling of happiness, but also keeps us coming back to the app. People always hope the next post or video will be even more exciting, which often leads to the so-called doomscrolling. It’s very hard for us to resist them.
  
  
  And then I didn't even got into the constant notifications all the apps use to trigger your Fear Of Missing Out and make you grab your smartphone with every sound your phone makes. Not even to mention the phantom vibration syndrome where you think that your phone vibrates in your pocket.
  

Kids and smartphones

If we as 'grown ups' can't resist smartphones and the addictive apps on them, how on earth can we expect our kids to resist them.
A study named in an article on Techradar tells us that the kids nowadays have a smartphone when they are 10 years old!

So why do we give them these smartphones at such a young age? I think we are afraid that our children to be excluded if they don’t have a smartphone. Many 'social activities' happen in group chats. Without a smartphone they can miss out on this and it can make them feel left out.

I keep reading more about the negative effects of smartphone usage, specifically for young kids. This generation that has grown up with a smartphone experiences quite a few disadvantages from excessive smartphone use.
Smartphone give continuous access to social media apps that can have a negative impact on the self-image of young children and teenagers. They are exposed to unrealistic pictures and ideals, which can make them feel insecure about themselves. Sometimes even leading to depressions.

Most children communicate mostly online, which impacts their real-life communication skills in a negative way. They find it harder to have face-to-face conversations and things as reading body language can't be done online. Also express emotions in person are way more difficult than espressing them with an emoticon 😢. This can make social interactions in the real world more difficult and less natural.

And then the algoritmes. Social media algorithms can give you a distored view on the world. Algorithms are made to show you more of what you already like or agree with and not showing you other facts or opinions. This creates a kind of bubble which limits exposure to different opinions and realities, and can give a false or narrow picture of the world.

And then we also have the physical issues like the "text neck and the "phone pinky". Some reports show that excessive smartphone use among children can lead to physical deformities and health issues.

How I deal with it

I know I'm no better than anyone else. I am also susceptible to addictions. The first step is to recognize that this is the case. I did and I've been trying to get a grip on my phone usage since then. Back in 2024 I even wrote a blog about my dopamine detox and decreasing my smartphone usage.

Even though I've had some fallbacks, I did manage to cut down my phone usage significantly.
What I have done:

• Disabling almost all notifications and instructed some people (mostly my family) to call me if they need me if they urgently need me.
• Uninstalling a large amount of apps among which all social media apps like Youtube. When I want to use their services, I need to use a browser. Either on my smartphone or on a computer.
• I stopped replying instantly. I used to feel the urge to reply to people that have sent me messaged. Although that is not necessary most of the times.
• Keep an eye on usage. I added a screen time widget on my phone screen, so I can see how much time I have been spending.

There are some apps that can help you get back control over your phone usage by blocking apps or limiting your screen time, but for me those didn't work that well. For me the above actions worked better.

What about my kids

As a father of two teenagers (14 and 16) I find it quite hard to regulate the phone usage of my kids. I know they spend a lot of time on their phone, but also a lot of their social life is happening on their phones.
We've tried setting time limits on their phones, but there are always ways to go around them. Kids are smart enough to find those. You can log into social media on all devices, so also from school laptops or chromebooks that can't be monitored by me. And I also heard a personal story of a kid from which the phone was blocked after 10:00PM, that had bought a 2nd hand phone herself and used that until deep in the night.
I think talking with your kids is the best way. Keep an eye on what they are doing (not too much, you also need to respect their privacy I think) and talk about what they do and the effects of it.
A good example of this is something that happened last week. My wife received a message from a friend that asked her a question while we had a family lunch. My wife put her phone away and my youngest was shocked that she didn't immediately reply to her friend. She said; "You are ghosting her". It showed that my daughter clearly thinks every incoming message needs to be answered as fast as possible. We had a good discussion about it. I don't know if it helped, but it might have given her some new insights.

We also have made rules about their phone use. We don't strictly monitor them with apps, but we do talk about it when we see they are spending a lot of time on their phones. We also instructed them to keep an eye on their phone usage via a screen time widget. Every now and then I ask them to show it to me, which then don't want to.

And maybe the best thing to do is give the right example. How can you ask your kids to spend less time on their phone when you're doing exactly the same. Kids see people on their phones always and everywhere. How can we expect them to do better than us.
I know we can't control others, but we should at least give the right example ourselves.

Regulations

Apart from our role as parents, I also think there is a role for the governments. As it is very hard for people to resists the addictions, I think there should be regulations. And especially regulations that prevent big tech to use algorithms in their apps that make us addicted.
Some might find restriction patronizing, but because of the intentions of big tech to make us addicted and the powerlessness of many people to resist this, I think regulations are a necessary thing.

Also schools have their role. Kids spend a lot of time on school. In the past years many schools here in The Netherlands have taken actions. On the school my kinds go to there is a "in the locker or at home" policy, which is a good thing.
A friend of mine who is a vice-principal at a school noticed a big change after this policy became active at his school. It used to be very silent in school during the breaks since all kids were focused on their phones. After the policy became active, there it was noisy again. Kids were talking with each other and playing games.

TL;DR

So, this was my first braindump. it has become quite a long one 😀
For this and the people that don't have time to read it all, or just are lazy, I'll sum up the most important parts.

• Smartphones and (social media) apps are addictive
• Worldwode, on average people use their smartphone 4 hours and 37 minutes a day
• The addictions can have serious consequences for your mental and physical health
• The generation that grows up with smarthones is lacking important social skills
• Parents should talk with kids about their phone usage
• People are easily addicted to the dopamine these apps give (many can't resist it)
• Big tech knows this and makes use of this to keep us addicted
• Governments should set up regulations to restrict the addictive effect of the apps.

This was my part. I'm really curious how you think about this subject. How do you deal with the smartphone addiction. Are you not addicted at all? How do you deal with the smartphone usage of your kids? Or if you don't have kids with smartphones (yet); how would you do it?
Let have a discussion about it in the comments!

Share your thoughts! Reply in the comments!

If you like this blog, feel free to reblog it, so we can get more responses!

Friendlymoose

I'm an amateur photographer with a love for indoor gardening, craft beer, and cycling. As the owner of the Cycling Community and the creator of the Topcomment initiative, I focus on fostering engagement and bringing like-minded people together.
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