I have travelled through at least 20 countries in the past year and from Kiev to Luang Prabang I saw people in restaurants looking at their smartphones rather than talking to each other. Many people were doing this in each restaurant. It was truly as if an alien invasion had taken place in which earthlings had been given a little box that removed them from the present moment and plugged them into The Network to serve their masters.
How could simply being a part of the network be a bad thing? The recent furore over Cambridge Analytica shows that many people do believe that simply being on the network is dangerous (although it subsequently turned out that Cambridge Analytica had not intervened during or before the EU Referendum (section 4.18)). If we are so worried about small companies using Facebook data what about Facebook itself? Facebook has an advertising model based on posts, comments, "likes" and other data entered by its users and steals non-Facebook data from your phone. It uses your network presence to sell you in subtle and indirect ways. Perhaps equally as bad is Google which collects location and other personal data from phones to target users with "useful", commercial information. All those people looking at their phones forget that The Network is not neutral, it is provided by Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft etc. which are giant corporations dedicated to manipulating their users for money. The dangers of The Network extend from dangers to our physical and mental health to dangers to all of society.
Any objective assessment of smartphone use would look at all of those people who are lost to the moment and ask who is doing it to them. The conclusion would be that a very large proportion of the population have become ensnared by big business. "Ensnared" could mean addicted or it could mean simply being subverted.
Scientists have investigated smartphone addiction. These scientists usually begin their articles with descriptions of how the mobile phone is necessary to a modern life and they then find that only 10 to 30% of the population are actually really addicted to their phones (5,6), that is really addicted, like to cocaine. Only these "weak" individuals need be a cause for concern because the rest of the population know exactly what they are doing and can just throw away their smartphones if they desire...you can - can't you?
It is not just the phones that are addictive. As many as 8.6% of Facebook users may be clinically addicted to it (3).
Apart from the fact that human beings have been co-opted into a vast network aimed at selling them goods and services, apart from the fact that the network is being used to manipulate its users, there is also strong data to show that using smartphones and social media can be extremely bad for you.
Many studies have now shown that social media use can double or treble an individual's chance of depression and/or anxiety (eg: 1,2). The non-social use of smartphones is most correlated with depression and anxiety (4).
If this litany of woes were not enough, the US National Institute of Health has discovered some extremely disturbing developments in adolescent behaviour that are correlated with the introduction of social media and smartphones:
In the USA teenagers have experienced huge falls in the frequency of dating behaviour and dramatic rises in insomnia and loneliness in the past two decades. These changes correlate with the introduction of social networking and mobile phones. They also correlate with the results of detailed studies of the effect of phones and social media, The Network, on these behaviours.
Where do we go from here? Clearly multi-billion dollar media corporations are taking everyone for a ride. Their "achievements" are seen as laudable by other corporations who use their platforms for sales and competition. Equally clearly there has not been a huge leap in the GDP per head of developed countries over the past 20 years, in fact growth has slowed, so all that is being achieved is greater control and manipulation of the consumer. Addiction may affect less that 30% of smartphone users but the other 70% are so absorbed in their media that they seem incapable of doing the rational thing: legislating to severely limit the capabilities of these devices.
When gambling addicts or alcoholics are first confronted by their addiction they generally change the subject or deny it. Press them on the issue and they get angry.
The big attitude shift that has accompanied smartphone and social media use is that people see themselves as members of The Network. Ask any under 30 year old who has been brought up on The Network and their allegiance to it is immense. The Network is the brotherhood of man, the joining of people globally so it must be good...
Challenge any social media user with what "bringing the world closer together" really means and they will change the subject or get angry (see Internationalism to find out what it really means).
Given that the real threat from The Network comes from The Network itself and not Russians etc. it is strange how much publicity the Russian meddling is given on the News Media. The Network was, from the beginning, designed to be open. It was this feature that attracted massive business involvement because The Network offers an excellent "route to market" and finding your best route to market is half the battle in business. Inevitably other, non-business ideologies also find the openness of The Network attractive. Having got the entire population addicted to The Network the authorities (those who have legal control of The Network) are now in a quandary: is The Network free or the preserve of Big Business? If The Network is free then the Russians, hackers etc. will all destroy its credibility and break the addictive cycle. However, those who control the Network have decided that Big Business must win, the possibility of creating drones addicted to The Network is so enticing that the authorities have decided to punish people who attack it with draconian sanctions. The authorities both refuse to legislate against the network and refuse to let it self destruct.
The EU is moving the Internet into a Big Business network by introducing a two speed Network, a sneaky change that will be invisible to most users.
The future of The Network can be seen in China where the authorities control it with an iron grip. They have even replaced Google with their own version (Baidu ) and monitor all cross border Internet traffic. Big Business and the Government are guaranteed a secure Network. The Chinese are expanding The Network with AI systems to control and monitor entire cities and boast that any criminal can be caught within seven minutes. In China you are a criminal if you think differently from the permitted norm.
1. Association between Social Media Use and Depression among U.S. Young Adults. Lin et al.(2016) Depress Anxiety. 2016 Apr; 33(4): 323–331.
2. Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression
and anxiety: A nationally-representative study among U.S. young
adults. Primak BA et al (2016) Computers in Human Behavior. Volume 69, April 2017, Pages 1-9
3. Online Social Network Site Addiction: A Comprehensive Review Andreassen, C.S. Curr Addict Rep (2015) 2: 175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-015-0056-9
4. D. Elhai, Jon & Levine, Jason & D. Dvorak, Robert & Hall, Brian. (2016). Non-Social Features of Smartphone Use Are Most Related to Depression, Anxiety and Problematic Smartphone Use. Computers in Human Behavior. in press. 10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.023.
5. Prevalence of Mobile Phone Dependence in Secondary School Adolescents. Chimatapu Sri Nikhita et al 2015. J Clin Diagn Res. 2015 Nov; 9(11): VC06–VC09. 31%
6. Prevalence of Problematic Mobile Phone Use in British Adolescents
Olatz Lopez-Fernandez, O. 2013 CYBERPSYCHOLOGY,BEHAVIOR,AND SOCIAL NETWORKING Volume X, Number X, 2013 DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0260 10%
How could simply being a part of the network be a bad thing? The recent furore over Cambridge Analytica shows that many people do believe that simply being on the network is dangerous (although it subsequently turned out that Cambridge Analytica had not intervened during or before the EU Referendum (section 4.18)). If we are so worried about small companies using Facebook data what about Facebook itself? Facebook has an advertising model based on posts, comments, "likes" and other data entered by its users and steals non-Facebook data from your phone. It uses your network presence to sell you in subtle and indirect ways. Perhaps equally as bad is Google which collects location and other personal data from phones to target users with "useful", commercial information. All those people looking at their phones forget that The Network is not neutral, it is provided by Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft etc. which are giant corporations dedicated to manipulating their users for money. The dangers of The Network extend from dangers to our physical and mental health to dangers to all of society.
Any objective assessment of smartphone use would look at all of those people who are lost to the moment and ask who is doing it to them. The conclusion would be that a very large proportion of the population have become ensnared by big business. "Ensnared" could mean addicted or it could mean simply being subverted.
Scientists have investigated smartphone addiction. These scientists usually begin their articles with descriptions of how the mobile phone is necessary to a modern life and they then find that only 10 to 30% of the population are actually really addicted to their phones (5,6), that is really addicted, like to cocaine. Only these "weak" individuals need be a cause for concern because the rest of the population know exactly what they are doing and can just throw away their smartphones if they desire...you can - can't you?
It is not just the phones that are addictive. As many as 8.6% of Facebook users may be clinically addicted to it (3).
Apart from the fact that human beings have been co-opted into a vast network aimed at selling them goods and services, apart from the fact that the network is being used to manipulate its users, there is also strong data to show that using smartphones and social media can be extremely bad for you.
Many studies have now shown that social media use can double or treble an individual's chance of depression and/or anxiety (eg: 1,2). The non-social use of smartphones is most correlated with depression and anxiety (4).
If this litany of woes were not enough, the US National Institute of Health has discovered some extremely disturbing developments in adolescent behaviour that are correlated with the introduction of social media and smartphones:
In the USA teenagers have experienced huge falls in the frequency of dating behaviour and dramatic rises in insomnia and loneliness in the past two decades. These changes correlate with the introduction of social networking and mobile phones. They also correlate with the results of detailed studies of the effect of phones and social media, The Network, on these behaviours.
Where do we go from here? Clearly multi-billion dollar media corporations are taking everyone for a ride. Their "achievements" are seen as laudable by other corporations who use their platforms for sales and competition. Equally clearly there has not been a huge leap in the GDP per head of developed countries over the past 20 years, in fact growth has slowed, so all that is being achieved is greater control and manipulation of the consumer. Addiction may affect less that 30% of smartphone users but the other 70% are so absorbed in their media that they seem incapable of doing the rational thing: legislating to severely limit the capabilities of these devices.
When gambling addicts or alcoholics are first confronted by their addiction they generally change the subject or deny it. Press them on the issue and they get angry.
The big attitude shift that has accompanied smartphone and social media use is that people see themselves as members of The Network. Ask any under 30 year old who has been brought up on The Network and their allegiance to it is immense. The Network is the brotherhood of man, the joining of people globally so it must be good...
Challenge any social media user with what "bringing the world closer together" really means and they will change the subject or get angry (see Internationalism to find out what it really means).
Given that the real threat from The Network comes from The Network itself and not Russians etc. it is strange how much publicity the Russian meddling is given on the News Media. The Network was, from the beginning, designed to be open. It was this feature that attracted massive business involvement because The Network offers an excellent "route to market" and finding your best route to market is half the battle in business. Inevitably other, non-business ideologies also find the openness of The Network attractive. Having got the entire population addicted to The Network the authorities (those who have legal control of The Network) are now in a quandary: is The Network free or the preserve of Big Business? If The Network is free then the Russians, hackers etc. will all destroy its credibility and break the addictive cycle. However, those who control the Network have decided that Big Business must win, the possibility of creating drones addicted to The Network is so enticing that the authorities have decided to punish people who attack it with draconian sanctions. The authorities both refuse to legislate against the network and refuse to let it self destruct.
The EU is moving the Internet into a Big Business network by introducing a two speed Network, a sneaky change that will be invisible to most users.
The future of The Network can be seen in China where the authorities control it with an iron grip. They have even replaced Google with their own version (Baidu ) and monitor all cross border Internet traffic. Big Business and the Government are guaranteed a secure Network. The Chinese are expanding The Network with AI systems to control and monitor entire cities and boast that any criminal can be caught within seven minutes. In China you are a criminal if you think differently from the permitted norm.
1. Association between Social Media Use and Depression among U.S. Young Adults. Lin et al.(2016) Depress Anxiety. 2016 Apr; 33(4): 323–331.
2. Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression
and anxiety: A nationally-representative study among U.S. young
adults. Primak BA et al (2016) Computers in Human Behavior. Volume 69, April 2017, Pages 1-9
3. Online Social Network Site Addiction: A Comprehensive Review Andreassen, C.S. Curr Addict Rep (2015) 2: 175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-015-0056-9
4. D. Elhai, Jon & Levine, Jason & D. Dvorak, Robert & Hall, Brian. (2016). Non-Social Features of Smartphone Use Are Most Related to Depression, Anxiety and Problematic Smartphone Use. Computers in Human Behavior. in press. 10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.023.
5. Prevalence of Mobile Phone Dependence in Secondary School Adolescents. Chimatapu Sri Nikhita et al 2015. J Clin Diagn Res. 2015 Nov; 9(11): VC06–VC09. 31%
6. Prevalence of Problematic Mobile Phone Use in British Adolescents
Olatz Lopez-Fernandez, O. 2013 CYBERPSYCHOLOGY,BEHAVIOR,AND SOCIAL NETWORKING Volume X, Number X, 2013 DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0260 10%
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