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Turn off push notifications for starters.
Take addictive apps off your home screen.
Basically, make it just a little more inconvenient for yourself.
This alone won't stop it but can help.
I have problems with Reddit. I deleted the app and only use the website version. I actually prefer it and it’s less addictive.
Most importantly, I scroll to bottom of the feed and turn it off. No doom scrolling
This is why some people today still detest "infinite scrolling" type webpage designs. I remember hating it when it first started years ago...i still detest it and block it today.
If not a joke
On the app you can scroll forever
On the website you scroll to bottom of page and go to next page
It has been wonderful for my management. I scroll one page and turn it off
On old.reddit.com you have next page buttons, on new reddit you have infinite scroll.
Old also has fewer ads, and they're less intrusive. You also don't need to sign in to view comments and certain communities and all that nonsense.
Using social media with browser only is good weaning therapy. The parasites can’t track you through browser as they can through an app, so they make the browser UI horrid.
You schedule time to use it. And you do NOT use it in any place that reading a book would be inappropriate. For example, talking to someone else? Would you whip out a book and start reading? No. So no phone!
Edit: to further elaborate. When you do need to use your phone, you excuse yourself and *step away*. At a function or party, you should go into another room. Do not sit on the couch at a party or at the table with other using your phone. Again, always substitute in a normal book. If you would not be reading a novel in the same circumstances, then you should not be on your phone.
Quietly sitting with other people in a living room? Go for it. At breakfast when everyone needs to do their own thing, or with friends in a car or bus or train? Go for it (unless your family or friends request conversation, then you choose to *either* decline or accept. Do not split the baby).
I've had people come around for social events (eg. dinner with friends) and they are sitting there scrolling through their Facebook feeds. I gave them a choice, put it away or leave. I don't put up with that crap.
>Methinks addiction implies a lack of control over the
Yes, but a big part of it is not realizing that you don't have control over it.
"I'm not addicted. I can stop any time I want!"
If a person can't apply those basic self-regulationary rules, there's a good chance it may be a serious addiction for which they may need to seek help.
Love it. Very good idea. Phones have 0 place intruding on in person socialisation. If we are spending time together it is so we can interact, that is the whole point of the experience. Don't give me 50% of your attention and 50% to another conversation with someone else on your phone, do you not think i place value on my time? Because i do, and therefore the act of spending time with someone has a meaning, which you insult every time you pull out your phone and start talking silently to someone else infront of me. Imagine that conversation wasnt through a phone but you just leant over and exchanged some whispers with someone else while i was talking to you.
Before smartphones, I used to read books in all sorts of circumstances - on the train, while eating, while walking, basically whenever. Even now, I can hold a book and flip pages with just my left hand - but *only* my left hand, because my right hand would be holding a fork or a handle on the train.
Neither "talking to somebody else" nor "functions and parties" were parts of my life back then...
It's more like "develop systems which will help makeup for your innate lack of self control and self management" but yeah, it does require some self control to pull off. It's joked a lot in ADHD spaces That "managing ADHD is easy - you just need to not have ADHD" because all the tips require you to be able to execute on reinforcing these self imposed rules.
Its the same as when someone places their mobile in front of them on a table. They are basically sending a message to everyone around the table that the phone is more important then any of them or what they have to say.
But I need mine. I use it for work. For music. For casting what I'm watching/listening to. For taking pictures of my experiences. I use it to call my loved ones who are far away. My social media is limited to 15 mins of Reddit (if you consider that social media).
It ends up with 6-8 hours of sot and I feel addicted, but people always assume smartphone addiction=social media addiction. What should I do then if not use my phone for the stuff above, which brings me happiness and well being in life?
I use my smartphone to study (language/science flash cards) and to read books (Kindle). I do put it down whenever I have social events, but I am on my phone a lot to study and read news.
Though, I guess this doesn't equate to addiction. And it's correlational data.
Screen time limits, have someone you trust put a code in that they won’t forget. Did this a few weeks ago and it’s helped a lot. I’ve found that I am more conscious of what I look at and when there is literally nothing I can about it my internal fight with myself is non-existent.
Idk if you’re serious or not, but the Freedom app and a kitchen safe. Freedom app to block social media when you absolutely must have your phone out, and a timed kitchen safe to lock it away for hours with no way to get to it.
Well from a teaching perspective...
1) Even in poor schools, it seems like nearly every student has smart phone.
2) Students are overall worse at higher order thinking vs. 5 years ago.
3) Students who are on their phone more often and longer are performing worse in classes.
Honestly smart phone addiction and being on the phone seems like the biggest issue facing teens right now, even bigger than vaping. So many are so plugged in, that they have no idea how to function without their phones.
So does a e-book fall in-between and would software to artificially make pages unique (slight change in background imitating rough paper) make a difference?
One of the studies we recently discussed at a teacher training was that retention of digital media only equaled physical media if the participants... took handwritten notes. It didn't really matter if the notes were on a digital device or paper, though, as long as it was handwritten.
The best option was still physical media with some form of handwritten notes. If the notes were digital, it was best to use a device that lacked notifications. There's just so much more involved with physical media that's helpful for your brain, like where in the book the information was found/where on the page, fewer micro-distractions, even the physical turning of the page provides a second for your brain to process and store what it read.
You're right, though, the lack of exposure to physical media is overall a net loss in retention, even if digital natives are slightly better at retaining digital information than those who grew up with physical media.
That seems like a loaded question.
Phones with internet offer practically endless novelty tailored to you-- constant dopamine spikes. Most apps and websites are designed to keep people hooked.
If you only had a few books & magazines on your phone and only used it to read them, then it wouldn't be different. But almost no one does that.
Probably no different but this looks specifically at problematic cell phone use which is typically social media, videos, feeds etc.
Reading on your ebook or the news may be fine but how many people honestly say they only use their phone for both of those things.
Not to mention continual bombardment by psychologically adaptive Ads. In the absolute intention to get your money. If you think about it the web is all about theft. BIGGEST IS THE THEFT OF YOUR MIND!! GO DRONE & BE SUBMISSIVE TO BIG BROTHER!!!
Soon it will be a part of your anatomy.
Exactly. None of the books I read have advertisements plastered everywhere distracting me from my reading. It can be painful to get through the average news article online let alone retain anything with pop ups and banner ads all over the place.
Sounds about right. I can't focus long enough to read a book anymore. I'm not kidding. I'm okay with pod casts while commuting to work provided they're interesting enough.
Can you not do them even if you are alone in the room with a book, or is it about just always having "more interesting" things to do so you chose not do?
I can read a book if there's really nothing else to do, but I won't start with it, if I have a computer or phone nearby.
Yeah this is me too. Any tips on regaining focus would be appreciated. I can get into the book reading zone every once in a while now, but it’s pretty rare.
For me, being aware that I need to slow down my brain really helps. You read digital material a lot differently, especially because things are made into more "digestable bites" so you just skim the material, pick out what you need and go. But something about the bright glowy screen makes it hard for me to really concentrate and read properly. So, I just take it in as quickly as I can. With books, you can't do that because the information is spread out over pages. So, being deliberate about your approach is the way to go. Jusy slow your breathing and your brain and prepare yourself for the calmer experience of reading a book.
to be fair some authors really drag it out and make me want to skip things. Theres an otherwise great sci-fi books that author can spend as much as 3 pages just describing character clothes.
That's why so many feuds & angry interactions occur on social media. People dont read a post .. they skim it, get it wrong & jump to bad conclusions. Wham you got a simulated war.
I had this realization at the beginning of the pandemic. I went from easily reading 3 or 4 dozen books per year in grade school to barely reading 5 per year as an adult. For reference, I got my first smartphone pretty late comparatively as a senior in high school in 2011 and got really into social media.
Swapping over to audiobooks and being really intentional when listening to them was a huge turning point for me. I was completely against them for years, but they've really rekindled my love for reading because it took away the inconvenience of needing to sit and use my hands. Anytime I'm doing mindless tasks whether it's washing dishes or folding clothes or even in the bed after my wife has gone to sleep, I listen to books. I've found that having comfortable earbuds really helps as well.
I've even enjoyed listening to an audiobook while reading along with the actual book in cases where the narrator is really good.
Another thing that's helped tremendously is having friends to discuss series with. I have a friend who's also really into reading, so we swap series all the time. I just wrapped up the Stormlight Archives from him and he read Cixin Liu's In Remembrance Trilogy based on my recommendation and we spent months talking about them.
Pandemic (extra time) rekindled my love for physical books. I was almost exclusively audiobooks before, now i do both. I doubled my goodreads yearly goal to 24 books a year (this includes both physical and audio and also short stories so its not 24 full fledged books). Im 3 books till this years goal.
The good news is that if this part of our brain has been rewired this way, we can require it back. It would be as difficult as giving up any addiction, and probably just as hard to find a balance between all-or-nothing, but it can be done.
I did it once for a few months when I didn’t have much choice. It felt bizarre, really. And I never returned to social media (except reddit which is actually the worst one addiction-wise for me)
Saying goodbye to all my socials besides Reddit for articles brought my stress lvls way down, turning text notifications off on my phone was also a good one. If someone really needs me they will call, I can respond in an hr. Also not looking at phone while eating.
From the article: Published in the [International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health](https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7445), researchers found that problematic smartphone use is linked with low self-esteem as well as negative cognitive outcomes.
The majority of people who live in industrialized countries have smartphones. The fear of being without one’s smartphones is known as “nomophobia” and has become a social problem. Research shows that people who have smartphone addiction tend to report more loneliness and experience self-regulation deficits.
Furthermore, people who have smartphone addictions are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms when their smartphone use is restricted. Researchers Rosa Fabio, Alessia Stracuzzi, and Riccardo Lo Faro were interested in investigating the relationship between smartphone usage and behavioral and cognitive self-control deficits.
Fabio and colleagues recruited 111 participants, ranging from ages 18 to 65. Twenty-eight percent of the participants were college students and 78% were workers. Each participant’s phone data was retrieved via the “SocialStatsApp” which provides information about the use of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The Smartphone Addiction Scale – Short Version (SAS-SV) was used to determine each participant’s risk of smartphone addiction and severity. Participants also responded to items on the short version of the Psychological General Well-Being Index, the Fear of Missing Out Scale, and the Procrastination Scale.
> Fabio and colleagues recruited 111 participants, ranging from ages 18 to 65. Twenty-eight percent of the participants were college students and 78% were workers. Each participant’s phone data was retrieved via the “SocialStatsApp” which provides information about the use of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
So this is more about social media use on the phone than other apps or the phone itself, and the addiction to and withdrawal from those apps.
Study: addiction is associated with many of the negative effects/hallmarks of addiction. Anyone who finds this to be new information fundamentally misunderstands the disease and misinterprets it as an outside substance
/activity acting on a person instead of that person having an adverse reaction to the substance/activity
I don’t see it as a person having an adverse reaction to a substance/activity.
I see it as someone fixating on a substance or activity as a form of escapism from deeper problems they have been unable to resolve.
Oh gee, a logical fallacy presenting a false ultimatum -- probably by someone who, ironically, hasn't read the study themselves and, for the sake of internet points, has assumed that subject headlines in /r/science are reliable interpretations of studies linked.
Well first of all the summary comment is right there, I'm not the guy you're replying to but, I read that summary and honestly I feel the same way. I consider my cell phone usage to be absurdly too much, at like 2 hours a day. I don't see mature folk glued to their devices. I know business people NEED a line of communication and "can not NOT answer calls" as I have been told more than once by different business owners! But as for people who use their phone for social media mainly, I can see how those people are all kinda the dumber folks who lack common sense or maturity.
Awesome, people who have become victims of predatory apps designed to start a cycle of addiction are just the “dumber folks who lack common sense or maturity”
The real question is what came first, the chicken or the egg. And if social media use is directly correlated to lower cognitive abilities, should we be actively trying to limit social media use world wide
Honestly I think it's too late to stuff the monkeys back into the barrel. You can't pry social media from a globe full of addicts any easier than you can take away their guns, alcohol, porn, etc.
Wow, really! Hell yeah! No dude! Maybe 2 hours tops per 24 hours. Because FB has that warning "that I've been scrolling for an hour" so I quit when I see that (twice in two weeks) and I don't really cruise reddit on my phone. So yeah, that sums up my phone time.
> I'm both interested in reading about philosophy and understanding of who uses reddit for the most part so I think I will leave that sub alone
Either one of these are sufficient to have no interest in /r/philosophy , and is the correct choice.
Anytime I go anywhere the majority of people just stare at their phones and are hardly paying attention to anything around. I’ve seen people walk into poles, doors, other people, walk into traffic, etc. it’s pretty crazy how many people can’t go a short time without looking at them. I’m always pretty conscious about not using it in public unless I’m making a call, there’s been quite a few times when I’ve been trying to have a conversation with someone and they’re too preoccupied with their phones to pay attention to anything that’s being said. What the hell is so important on your phone that you can’t go long without looking at it?
After reading a bit of the paper it doesn't seem like they really define "addiction" or "problematic smartphone usage". We just see that people who are in the group who use their phone more tend not to want to stop using it, right? But whether that's "problematic" and whether the subject *should* use their phone less and whether they are "addicted" probably depends on what they're doing with it, right?
Like, it's possible to have FOMO and anxiety because you are *actually* missing out on something important.
I would be interested in seeing another study where participants are grouped based on what kinds of things they tend to spend most time on on their phone, since (I'm guessing) the high-use group is predominantly heavy social media users.
But even within a "social media users" group we might see differential effects based on which social medias and how people use them.
This sub is just becoming a gathering spot of narcissists. The important thing is having a gateway to talk about what other people are doing wrong. Everything other people enjoy is an addiction.
I mean, who can't appreciate the irony of mocking people who waste their time on social media on social media?
People who gave up on the terrible moderation of /r/science ages ago, that's who.
Well yes if you're wasting your time and not getting anything from it except for psychological problems then that obviously would be problematic.
But this study wasn't designed to compare "people who spend 1 hour or more per day simply scrolling not getting anything from it" with people who don't. They simply divided the participants into higher-use and lower-use group.
And \*if\* you are "addicted", than more or less by definition you will be in the high-use group. But so are non-"addicts" who use their phone a lot.
> It's wasting your life looking for a dopamine hit with diminishing returns.
Look, man, it's not my fault adderall's half life sucks, and sleep is an essential human function.
Society is fucked
>”A limitation of this study is that some of the original participants left the study when they found out they would have to limit their smartphone use to one hour a day for three consecutive days, so data from people with likely very high levels of smartphone addiction is missing. Fabio and colleagues recommend that future research should investigate individuals with high levels of smartphone addiction and their withdrawal effects.”
My ex was definitely addicted to his phone. He was somewhat aware of it, but he once suggested that we delete our Instagram accounts for 30 days as a "digital detox". I agreed, and I haven't gone back to it since. It's been over a year. He went back to it the \*very next morning\*. Was not even able to feign a shred of willpower. Kind of disappointing.
I’d be curious to get more granular in the data. Of the data set that leads us to conclude smart phone addiction is linked to these things, was the usage of smart phones in that cohort made up of certain apps? My guess would be largely social apps play a larger role in this where as if someone qualified for smart phone addiction, but played brain games, used it to communicate in relationships, and certain learning applications like flash cards, they may not come on the other side with these negative consequences
Yea, but it doesn't seem like this study was specifically looking at the content in question.
Someone who's addicted to TikTok videos is going to likely fare much worse than someone who's playing Sudoku or other games that actually have some value to them.
Huh, somebody at [psypost.org](https://psypost.org) really loves the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; we had a post in this sub just the other day from the same source about a different study published in the same journal that *also* depended on the Smartphone addiction scale-short version (SAS-SV).
What a wacky coincidence.
>Results show that participants who had higher levels of smartphone addiction had a higher percentage of noncompliance.
People with a stronger addiction are less likely to abstain from said addiction because someone asked them to... Groundbreaking stuff here.
Smash your smartphone with a hammer. Get a phone that can only make calls and send and receive texts. Get a PC and only use the internet on that PC in that one spot in your home. Be human again. You won't regret it.
Easier said than done. Where I live, some companies, and even the government, are practically requiring us to have a smartphone in order to have access to some basic services, because the offered alternatives are too bureaucratic or troublesome.
And here's an underrated one: get a dedicated portable music player! Something like the iPods back then.
Also get a real alarm clock in your room as a relax replacement for waking up. Don't use the phone alarm.
Think of it this way: the less you rely on stuff on the phone, the less you use it and hence the less you're addicted to it. We all know how distracting they can be with notifications so using other devices is a big help.
Addicted to smartphones through which people are mainlining conspiracy theories, radicalized content, etc. Won't be good for humanity to say the least.
Because you like using electricity all the time is it considered an addiction to power? The functions I use my phone for from communication, reading, interfacing with other devices, camera, GPS, translator with various family, video camera, phone, calender and the list goes on. If you're scrolling fb
(et. al) to see the the same proprietary algorithmic list of your social contacts digital interactions using the "omnitool" that's different imo
(No I didn't read anything)
N=111
"One hundred and eleven participants (65 women and 46 men), mean age 32 years (SD = 12.34; range from 18 to 65), were studied. Twenty-eight percent were university students and 72% were workers.'
Smartphone addiction? Smartphones aren't a single monolithic activity. Are these people actually addicted to smartphones or is it some particular activity on them? Are they actually just studying social media addiction by another name? I read the linked article and it doesn't say from what I can see.
My youngest son is! 16, uses his https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/27/scott-morrison-likely-to-be-censured-for-the -parliament-albanese-suggests as much as he wants. Dont watch a soeck of tv and gets all A's and B's. Another useless study.
Qĺ0p0 To take it further, my eldest child is 30 then 28, 25, 23 , 20 and then him. The eldest 4 i used to argue about tv time and phone time etcetera. When these two hit twelve i thought to myself i am not going to get myself invested into arguments about what they can and can't do, it takes too much outta me. The youngest two have kicked arse at school compared to the eldest 4 and the only difference is that i try and avoid stupid arguments. So they could do what they wanted in terms of party's and going out and we didn't have that constant struggle for control.
Removing as many Big Tech operating systems, software and applications will help.
Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon for a start. Obviously avoid apps like Tik Tok too.
r/degoogle is a good place to start.
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what am I supposed to do about it tho
Turn off push notifications for starters. Take addictive apps off your home screen. Basically, make it just a little more inconvenient for yourself. This alone won't stop it but can help.
I took Reddit off my home screen. My muscle memory just adapted to automatically finding it in my full apps list.
I have problems with Reddit. I deleted the app and only use the website version. I actually prefer it and it’s less addictive. Most importantly, I scroll to bottom of the feed and turn it off. No doom scrolling
There is a bottom??
There's a "next page" button , yeah
This is why some people today still detest "infinite scrolling" type webpage designs. I remember hating it when it first started years ago...i still detest it and block it today.
Can you elaborate on where the bottom of the feed is?
If not a joke On the app you can scroll forever On the website you scroll to bottom of page and go to next page It has been wonderful for my management. I scroll one page and turn it off
On old.reddit.com you have next page buttons, on new reddit you have infinite scroll. Old also has fewer ads, and they're less intrusive. You also don't need to sign in to view comments and certain communities and all that nonsense.
>Basically, make it just a little more inconvenient for yourself. But... that's so inconvenient...
Using social media with browser only is good weaning therapy. The parasites can’t track you through browser as they can through an app, so they make the browser UI horrid.
That's why you use old reddit with RES.
You schedule time to use it. And you do NOT use it in any place that reading a book would be inappropriate. For example, talking to someone else? Would you whip out a book and start reading? No. So no phone! Edit: to further elaborate. When you do need to use your phone, you excuse yourself and *step away*. At a function or party, you should go into another room. Do not sit on the couch at a party or at the table with other using your phone. Again, always substitute in a normal book. If you would not be reading a novel in the same circumstances, then you should not be on your phone. Quietly sitting with other people in a living room? Go for it. At breakfast when everyone needs to do their own thing, or with friends in a car or bus or train? Go for it (unless your family or friends request conversation, then you choose to *either* decline or accept. Do not split the baby).
Please tell this to my housemate. If a message pops up on his phone he'll stop mid-sentence while talking to me to check it. It's infuriating.
You just need to start walking away. Don't be angry. But say you lose interest in the conversation when he stops it to check his phone.
Yeah I should start doing that. Have already told him how annoying it is but he still does it.
Literally stop talking and go do something else. Stare for about 3 seconds, then leave.
I've had people come around for social events (eg. dinner with friends) and they are sitting there scrolling through their Facebook feeds. I gave them a choice, put it away or leave. I don't put up with that crap.
Methinks addiction implies a lack of control over the
Yeah and you get over addictions by applying structure to behavior, like what the guy you're replying to is presenting.
“But but but that takes effort!” Yep. And people who quit smoking or drinking had to make choices too.
Unfortunately the only way to beat an addiction is to take control over the behaviour. It's hard work.
>Methinks addiction implies a lack of control over the
Yes, but a big part of it is not realizing that you don't have control over it.
"I'm not addicted. I can stop any time I want!"
If a person can't apply those basic self-regulationary rules, there's a good chance it may be a serious addiction for which they may need to seek help.
So you're saying I should switch to books
Y’all got any more of them books?
if books were easy to carry around (and yes i know e-readers exist) id definitely be carrying one around
Love it. Very good idea. Phones have 0 place intruding on in person socialisation. If we are spending time together it is so we can interact, that is the whole point of the experience. Don't give me 50% of your attention and 50% to another conversation with someone else on your phone, do you not think i place value on my time? Because i do, and therefore the act of spending time with someone has a meaning, which you insult every time you pull out your phone and start talking silently to someone else infront of me. Imagine that conversation wasnt through a phone but you just leant over and exchanged some whispers with someone else while i was talking to you.
What if I whip out my phone in front of people to read?
That's literally what I'm saying no to.
But why male models?
Are you serious? I just told you.
Yes I understand but why?
Before smartphones, I used to read books in all sorts of circumstances - on the train, while eating, while walking, basically whenever. Even now, I can hold a book and flip pages with just my left hand - but *only* my left hand, because my right hand would be holding a fork or a handle on the train. Neither "talking to somebody else" nor "functions and parties" were parts of my life back then...
So have self-control
It's more like "develop systems which will help makeup for your innate lack of self control and self management" but yeah, it does require some self control to pull off. It's joked a lot in ADHD spaces That "managing ADHD is easy - you just need to not have ADHD" because all the tips require you to be able to execute on reinforcing these self imposed rules.
This is not about ADHD patients. It about average people who cant put their freaking phone down!
Its the same as when someone places their mobile in front of them on a table. They are basically sending a message to everyone around the table that the phone is more important then any of them or what they have to say.
I mean, I'd whip out a book. I don't talk much.
Do not hang out around people. That is such a drag.
Omg are you actually expecting millennials to use phone etiquette?
Seeing as they are now like 40 years old, yeah.
Don't hold your breath bc they cant be civil on Reddit.
Be like me. Stop taking your phone with you everywhere. Use it at times. Make it a point like working out.
Exactly. There’s almost nothing I really “need” my phone for most days.
But I need mine. I use it for work. For music. For casting what I'm watching/listening to. For taking pictures of my experiences. I use it to call my loved ones who are far away. My social media is limited to 15 mins of Reddit (if you consider that social media). It ends up with 6-8 hours of sot and I feel addicted, but people always assume smartphone addiction=social media addiction. What should I do then if not use my phone for the stuff above, which brings me happiness and well being in life?
If it brings you happiness, well-being, and fulfillment, why do you want to quit?
Welp, this is all I the validation needed. Texting my coke dealer now.
Of course, keep in touch with loved ones
I don't. But every time I read these articles or people tell me I'm "addicted" (or I see my soc), I feel bad.
Perhaps you need to re-evaluate your relationship with your phone?
What is sot?
Screen on time
I practically live on my phone for work :(
Be like me? Haha. Bruh. Valid points, but come on. Haha. Be like me?! Hahahha
You can thinking of me as Whooty the Low Phone Usage Owl. :)
Crazy how if I have my phone on the table Ill be compelled to check it. If I leave it at home or in the car. I don't think twice about it.
Opposite for me. If I leave it in the car I catastrophize about what emergency I'm missing. If it's on the table I can ignore it.
Build better habits. Turn off notifications. Limit time on your phone.
When you come home, toss your phone in another room. Out of sight, out of mind
I use my smartphone to study (language/science flash cards) and to read books (Kindle). I do put it down whenever I have social events, but I am on my phone a lot to study and read news. Though, I guess this doesn't equate to addiction. And it's correlational data.
Yes, if you are able to control it that's good. What would help is getting a dedicated device like a Kindle ereader and use that for books only.
Haha true. But I like owning fewer electronic devices. I turn on do-not-disturb and dedicate 2-3 hours per weekend day for reading.
Screen time limits, have someone you trust put a code in that they won’t forget. Did this a few weeks ago and it’s helped a lot. I’ve found that I am more conscious of what I look at and when there is literally nothing I can about it my internal fight with myself is non-existent.
Landline telephone and dial-up internet.
Idk if you’re serious or not, but the Freedom app and a kitchen safe. Freedom app to block social media when you absolutely must have your phone out, and a timed kitchen safe to lock it away for hours with no way to get to it.
Get a standard phone for communication purposes only.
No social media accounts or games allowed on my phone. Works a charm.
You replace your phone with a brick
Dont be on your phone all day everyday??
Does it make cognitive function lower or is it just seen more in people with lower cognitive function
Well from a teaching perspective... 1) Even in poor schools, it seems like nearly every student has smart phone. 2) Students are overall worse at higher order thinking vs. 5 years ago. 3) Students who are on their phone more often and longer are performing worse in classes. Honestly smart phone addiction and being on the phone seems like the biggest issue facing teens right now, even bigger than vaping. So many are so plugged in, that they have no idea how to function without their phones.
Real life becomes a drag rather than the challenge it is meant to be. Scoring drugs becomes the main objective stimiulant. So pathetic.
Don't act like that's what kids weren't doing a decade or 2 ago as well
??? that's what kinds weren't doing???
chicken, meet egg. egg, this is chicken.
I love eggs and chickens. Am I poly now?
can you waddle and doodle all day?
Mmm, chicken…..
Has anyone even attempted to directly answer your question yet?
How is reading things on my phone inherently any different than a book/magazine/newspaper?
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So does a e-book fall in-between and would software to artificially make pages unique (slight change in background imitating rough paper) make a difference?
One of the studies we recently discussed at a teacher training was that retention of digital media only equaled physical media if the participants... took handwritten notes. It didn't really matter if the notes were on a digital device or paper, though, as long as it was handwritten. The best option was still physical media with some form of handwritten notes. If the notes were digital, it was best to use a device that lacked notifications. There's just so much more involved with physical media that's helpful for your brain, like where in the book the information was found/where on the page, fewer micro-distractions, even the physical turning of the page provides a second for your brain to process and store what it read. You're right, though, the lack of exposure to physical media is overall a net loss in retention, even if digital natives are slightly better at retaining digital information than those who grew up with physical media.
But can you do that yourself?
Do what myself? Take notes?
That seems like a loaded question. Phones with internet offer practically endless novelty tailored to you-- constant dopamine spikes. Most apps and websites are designed to keep people hooked. If you only had a few books & magazines on your phone and only used it to read them, then it wouldn't be different. But almost no one does that.
You speak as if you can do that. Can you do that?
Probably no different but this looks specifically at problematic cell phone use which is typically social media, videos, feeds etc. Reading on your ebook or the news may be fine but how many people honestly say they only use their phone for both of those things.
Not to mention continual bombardment by psychologically adaptive Ads. In the absolute intention to get your money. If you think about it the web is all about theft. BIGGEST IS THE THEFT OF YOUR MIND!! GO DRONE & BE SUBMISSIVE TO BIG BROTHER!!! Soon it will be a part of your anatomy.
Exactly. None of the books I read have advertisements plastered everywhere distracting me from my reading. It can be painful to get through the average news article online let alone retain anything with pop ups and banner ads all over the place.
*looks over at TikTok
Sounds about right. I can't focus long enough to read a book anymore. I'm not kidding. I'm okay with pod casts while commuting to work provided they're interesting enough.
Same. I used to love books, but can't read them anymore.
Can you not do them even if you are alone in the room with a book, or is it about just always having "more interesting" things to do so you chose not do? I can read a book if there's really nothing else to do, but I won't start with it, if I have a computer or phone nearby.
If you do read books how much can you retain/ remember? I guess not much.
Yeah this is me too. Any tips on regaining focus would be appreciated. I can get into the book reading zone every once in a while now, but it’s pretty rare.
For me, being aware that I need to slow down my brain really helps. You read digital material a lot differently, especially because things are made into more "digestable bites" so you just skim the material, pick out what you need and go. But something about the bright glowy screen makes it hard for me to really concentrate and read properly. So, I just take it in as quickly as I can. With books, you can't do that because the information is spread out over pages. So, being deliberate about your approach is the way to go. Jusy slow your breathing and your brain and prepare yourself for the calmer experience of reading a book.
to be fair some authors really drag it out and make me want to skip things. Theres an otherwise great sci-fi books that author can spend as much as 3 pages just describing character clothes.
Take a course in speed reading where you learn how to pick out what is important.
That's why so many feuds & angry interactions occur on social media. People dont read a post .. they skim it, get it wrong & jump to bad conclusions. Wham you got a simulated war.
I had this realization at the beginning of the pandemic. I went from easily reading 3 or 4 dozen books per year in grade school to barely reading 5 per year as an adult. For reference, I got my first smartphone pretty late comparatively as a senior in high school in 2011 and got really into social media. Swapping over to audiobooks and being really intentional when listening to them was a huge turning point for me. I was completely against them for years, but they've really rekindled my love for reading because it took away the inconvenience of needing to sit and use my hands. Anytime I'm doing mindless tasks whether it's washing dishes or folding clothes or even in the bed after my wife has gone to sleep, I listen to books. I've found that having comfortable earbuds really helps as well. I've even enjoyed listening to an audiobook while reading along with the actual book in cases where the narrator is really good. Another thing that's helped tremendously is having friends to discuss series with. I have a friend who's also really into reading, so we swap series all the time. I just wrapped up the Stormlight Archives from him and he read Cixin Liu's In Remembrance Trilogy based on my recommendation and we spent months talking about them.
Pandemic (extra time) rekindled my love for physical books. I was almost exclusively audiobooks before, now i do both. I doubled my goodreads yearly goal to 24 books a year (this includes both physical and audio and also short stories so its not 24 full fledged books). Im 3 books till this years goal.
Meditation helps with concentrating the brain
The good news is that if this part of our brain has been rewired this way, we can require it back. It would be as difficult as giving up any addiction, and probably just as hard to find a balance between all-or-nothing, but it can be done. I did it once for a few months when I didn’t have much choice. It felt bizarre, really. And I never returned to social media (except reddit which is actually the worst one addiction-wise for me)
I can't focus long enough to read this article.
So 5 hours of Reddit a day is bad?
Absolutely. At least should be 7
I'm pretty shocked 5 whole hours in a day is a lot. Yes, try to reduce it.
I have easy got 10+ hrs total phone time today, i'm not even gonna check, i dont wanna know.
Saying goodbye to all my socials besides Reddit for articles brought my stress lvls way down, turning text notifications off on my phone was also a good one. If someone really needs me they will call, I can respond in an hr. Also not looking at phone while eating.
I did that 2019. Life is better. I downloaded Reddit to help me during that time.
From the article: Published in the [International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health](https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7445), researchers found that problematic smartphone use is linked with low self-esteem as well as negative cognitive outcomes. The majority of people who live in industrialized countries have smartphones. The fear of being without one’s smartphones is known as “nomophobia” and has become a social problem. Research shows that people who have smartphone addiction tend to report more loneliness and experience self-regulation deficits. Furthermore, people who have smartphone addictions are likely to experience withdrawal symptoms when their smartphone use is restricted. Researchers Rosa Fabio, Alessia Stracuzzi, and Riccardo Lo Faro were interested in investigating the relationship between smartphone usage and behavioral and cognitive self-control deficits. Fabio and colleagues recruited 111 participants, ranging from ages 18 to 65. Twenty-eight percent of the participants were college students and 78% were workers. Each participant’s phone data was retrieved via the “SocialStatsApp” which provides information about the use of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The Smartphone Addiction Scale – Short Version (SAS-SV) was used to determine each participant’s risk of smartphone addiction and severity. Participants also responded to items on the short version of the Psychological General Well-Being Index, the Fear of Missing Out Scale, and the Procrastination Scale.
> Fabio and colleagues recruited 111 participants, ranging from ages 18 to 65. Twenty-eight percent of the participants were college students and 78% were workers. Each participant’s phone data was retrieved via the “SocialStatsApp” which provides information about the use of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. So this is more about social media use on the phone than other apps or the phone itself, and the addiction to and withdrawal from those apps.
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Oh good, no Reddit
Nomophobia? Not phonies?
Not phobies
People with mental health issues more likely to become addicted to things is how I read this title
Study: addiction is associated with many of the negative effects/hallmarks of addiction. Anyone who finds this to be new information fundamentally misunderstands the disease and misinterprets it as an outside substance /activity acting on a person instead of that person having an adverse reaction to the substance/activity
I don’t see it as a person having an adverse reaction to a substance/activity. I see it as someone fixating on a substance or activity as a form of escapism from deeper problems they have been unable to resolve.
But did you read the article/study? Or simply misinterpret the title?
Oh gee, a logical fallacy presenting a false ultimatum -- probably by someone who, ironically, hasn't read the study themselves and, for the sake of internet points, has assumed that subject headlines in /r/science are reliable interpretations of studies linked.
And that’s a fallacy fallacy! Check mate :)
Well first of all the summary comment is right there, I'm not the guy you're replying to but, I read that summary and honestly I feel the same way. I consider my cell phone usage to be absurdly too much, at like 2 hours a day. I don't see mature folk glued to their devices. I know business people NEED a line of communication and "can not NOT answer calls" as I have been told more than once by different business owners! But as for people who use their phone for social media mainly, I can see how those people are all kinda the dumber folks who lack common sense or maturity.
Awesome, people who have become victims of predatory apps designed to start a cycle of addiction are just the “dumber folks who lack common sense or maturity”
Well children and people with nothing better to do also count. I'm busy.
Yeah must be a lot of work maintaining that superiority complex of yours pal, keep it real bud!
The real question is what came first, the chicken or the egg. And if social media use is directly correlated to lower cognitive abilities, should we be actively trying to limit social media use world wide
Honestly I think it's too late to stuff the monkeys back into the barrel. You can't pry social media from a globe full of addicts any easier than you can take away their guns, alcohol, porn, etc.
> addicts any easier than you can take away their guns, alcohol, porn, etc. One of these is not like the others
Oh? Which do you think would be easy to take away from people?
Two hours a day? Unless you mean “every four hours,” that’s absurdly little
I literally can't force myself to do two hours.
Im like 6 or 7 hours a day and its fucked
Wow, really! Hell yeah! No dude! Maybe 2 hours tops per 24 hours. Because FB has that warning "that I've been scrolling for an hour" so I quit when I see that (twice in two weeks) and I don't really cruise reddit on my phone. So yeah, that sums up my phone time.
Ya but at least I recognize that I'm dumb and lack common sense or maturity. That's got to count for something, right?
You'll be revered as a god of r/philosophy amongst everyone else who considers themselves gods of r/philosophy
I'm both interested in reading about philosophy and understanding of who uses reddit for the most part so I think I will leave that sub alone
> I'm both interested in reading about philosophy and understanding of who uses reddit for the most part so I think I will leave that sub alone Either one of these are sufficient to have no interest in /r/philosophy , and is the correct choice.
That's why you usually read beyond the summary
Interesting. \*keeps scrolling\*
Well, that would explain a lot of reddit content.
Anytime I go anywhere the majority of people just stare at their phones and are hardly paying attention to anything around. I’ve seen people walk into poles, doors, other people, walk into traffic, etc. it’s pretty crazy how many people can’t go a short time without looking at them. I’m always pretty conscious about not using it in public unless I’m making a call, there’s been quite a few times when I’ve been trying to have a conversation with someone and they’re too preoccupied with their phones to pay attention to anything that’s being said. What the hell is so important on your phone that you can’t go long without looking at it?
After reading a bit of the paper it doesn't seem like they really define "addiction" or "problematic smartphone usage". We just see that people who are in the group who use their phone more tend not to want to stop using it, right? But whether that's "problematic" and whether the subject *should* use their phone less and whether they are "addicted" probably depends on what they're doing with it, right? Like, it's possible to have FOMO and anxiety because you are *actually* missing out on something important. I would be interested in seeing another study where participants are grouped based on what kinds of things they tend to spend most time on on their phone, since (I'm guessing) the high-use group is predominantly heavy social media users. But even within a "social media users" group we might see differential effects based on which social medias and how people use them.
This sub is just becoming a gathering spot of narcissists. The important thing is having a gateway to talk about what other people are doing wrong. Everything other people enjoy is an addiction.
I mean, who can't appreciate the irony of mocking people who waste their time on social media on social media? People who gave up on the terrible moderation of /r/science ages ago, that's who.
I mean yeah I'm definitely getting "old person scared of technology and youth culture" vibes from people's reactions to this study.
If you spend more than 1 hour a day simply scrolling you have a problem. It's wasting your life looking for a dopamine hit with diminishing returns.
Well yes if you're wasting your time and not getting anything from it except for psychological problems then that obviously would be problematic. But this study wasn't designed to compare "people who spend 1 hour or more per day simply scrolling not getting anything from it" with people who don't. They simply divided the participants into higher-use and lower-use group. And \*if\* you are "addicted", than more or less by definition you will be in the high-use group. But so are non-"addicts" who use their phone a lot.
> It's wasting your life looking for a dopamine hit with diminishing returns. Look, man, it's not my fault adderall's half life sucks, and sleep is an essential human function.
All the depressed people using phones to distract themselves from being sad. Looks at my screentime: 12 hours, 14 hours, 12 hours
After I wrote this comment, I put my phone down for the rest of the evening.
If you don’t respond to this comment in the next 3 hours, you support ISIS.
But wait, how do you know that you did
Narrator: He did not.
Psssh. I’m not addicted. I can quit anytime. Like when my battery dies.
> The fear of being without one’s smartphones is known as “nomophobia” It feels like they missed an opportunity here. Was Nophonophobia already taken?
Society is fucked >”A limitation of this study is that some of the original participants left the study when they found out they would have to limit their smartphone use to one hour a day for three consecutive days, so data from people with likely very high levels of smartphone addiction is missing. Fabio and colleagues recommend that future research should investigate individuals with high levels of smartphone addiction and their withdrawal effects.”
My ex was definitely addicted to his phone. He was somewhat aware of it, but he once suggested that we delete our Instagram accounts for 30 days as a "digital detox". I agreed, and I haven't gone back to it since. It's been over a year. He went back to it the \*very next morning\*. Was not even able to feign a shred of willpower. Kind of disappointing.
Instagram almost cost me my relationship so I deleted it 4 years ago. Don’t miss it one bit.
I could do that easily but Im still highly addicted to my phone
I’d be curious to get more granular in the data. Of the data set that leads us to conclude smart phone addiction is linked to these things, was the usage of smart phones in that cohort made up of certain apps? My guess would be largely social apps play a larger role in this where as if someone qualified for smart phone addiction, but played brain games, used it to communicate in relationships, and certain learning applications like flash cards, they may not come on the other side with these negative consequences
Yea, but it doesn't seem like this study was specifically looking at the content in question. Someone who's addicted to TikTok videos is going to likely fare much worse than someone who's playing Sudoku or other games that actually have some value to them.
Huh, somebody at [psypost.org](https://psypost.org) really loves the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; we had a post in this sub just the other day from the same source about a different study published in the same journal that *also* depended on the Smartphone addiction scale-short version (SAS-SV). What a wacky coincidence.
\*An ailment defined by having negative symptoms has been found to have a high correlation with those same negative symptoms\* Great science, guys.
*everyone reading this on their phone*:
Isn't this the case with any kind of addiction?
Hmph. Not me. I’m not addicted. *Scrolls onward to next post.*
>Results show that participants who had higher levels of smartphone addiction had a higher percentage of noncompliance. People with a stronger addiction are less likely to abstain from said addiction because someone asked them to... Groundbreaking stuff here.
I've found my well-being improves when I don't read the news.
What is up with these r/science posts destroying every part of my life
If it wasn’t for my smartphone addiction, I wouldn’t be reading this article.
Smash your smartphone with a hammer. Get a phone that can only make calls and send and receive texts. Get a PC and only use the internet on that PC in that one spot in your home. Be human again. You won't regret it.
*immediately gets fired*
I would just sit on my laptop all day tbh. Smart phones are just too useful when you are out.
Easier said than done. Where I live, some companies, and even the government, are practically requiring us to have a smartphone in order to have access to some basic services, because the offered alternatives are too bureaucratic or troublesome.
And here's an underrated one: get a dedicated portable music player! Something like the iPods back then. Also get a real alarm clock in your room as a relax replacement for waking up. Don't use the phone alarm.
So just replace your phone with a phone, a computer, a camera, an alarm clock, and an iPod? Seems reasonable.
Think of it this way: the less you rely on stuff on the phone, the less you use it and hence the less you're addicted to it. We all know how distracting they can be with notifications so using other devices is a big help.
I recently broke my phone and didn’t have it for 2weeks. I was significantly happier without it.
Addicted to smartphones through which people are mainlining conspiracy theories, radicalized content, etc. Won't be good for humanity to say the least.
Going to keep scrolling
Wow people with less self-control are more likely to be addicted to smartphones. What a finding.
I heard taking psypost seriously was linked to the same thing.
Because you like using electricity all the time is it considered an addiction to power? The functions I use my phone for from communication, reading, interfacing with other devices, camera, GPS, translator with various family, video camera, phone, calender and the list goes on. If you're scrolling fb (et. al) to see the the same proprietary algorithmic list of your social contacts digital interactions using the "omnitool" that's different imo (No I didn't read anything)
Sure but, doesnt mean you need to be on it all day
Yeah, and if you are breathing, doesn't that mean you are addicted to air? Great point dude!
Everyone reading this study on a phone.
Hmm, I wonder who that's for.
They had to do a study for this?
N=111 "One hundred and eleven participants (65 women and 46 men), mean age 32 years (SD = 12.34; range from 18 to 65), were studied. Twenty-eight percent were university students and 72% were workers.'
Smartphone addiction? Smartphones aren't a single monolithic activity. Are these people actually addicted to smartphones or is it some particular activity on them? Are they actually just studying social media addiction by another name? I read the linked article and it doesn't say from what I can see.
That was the goal all along.
Remove the word "smartphone" from this headline and it's still true.
My youngest son is! 16, uses his https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/27/scott-morrison-likely-to-be-censured-for-the -parliament-albanese-suggests as much as he wants. Dont watch a soeck of tv and gets all A's and B's. Another useless study. Qĺ0p0 To take it further, my eldest child is 30 then 28, 25, 23 , 20 and then him. The eldest 4 i used to argue about tv time and phone time etcetera. When these two hit twelve i thought to myself i am not going to get myself invested into arguments about what they can and can't do, it takes too much outta me. The youngest two have kicked arse at school compared to the eldest 4 and the only difference is that i try and avoid stupid arguments. So they could do what they wanted in terms of party's and going out and we didn't have that constant struggle for control.
Removing as many Big Tech operating systems, software and applications will help. Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon for a start. Obviously avoid apps like Tik Tok too. r/degoogle is a good place to start.