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I feel the need to offer anecdotal to such a subject though I realize this perhaps does not carry the same weight as scientific studies yet I think it is still important. A few months ago, I met up with a friend I hadn't seen for 2 years. Often, and for the entirety of the bus journey back home, I saw him scrolling through his phone. When this first occurred, I thought maybe he had received a message from someone, or that there was something important that he needed to do. I become curious so I ask him what he is doing. His response? "Oh, I'm just looking at Instagram." Perhaps it could be concluded that this is just the behaviour of one individual but I think behaviour like this is becoming increasingly more common. I have endeavored in recent times to stop using my phone so much. In particular, I have completely removed Instagram, and Twitter from my phone, both of which feature endless scrolling. I absolutely do not regret doing so, nor do I miss these apps. Instead, sometimes I might read a book, or an article, or perhaps I'll just do nothing, and reflect on the day, and what I'm going to be doing next. And I think the issue with technology is that there's always something to do. With a newspaper, eventually you'll read everything you're interested in, and you'll stop. Same with a magazine. But when you're scrolling through Twitter, there is always something to keep you engaged, and to stop you leaving. And this is not by accident but rather it is intentional because, of course, the more time you spend on the app, the more ads you see. I now feel so much better mentally when I stopped such apps. There are, of course, benefits to technology. If that weren't the case, I would not be here now. But I am a bit concerned that we are indulging to much in the distractions that technology brings rather than the amazing things it can do for us. |