These days, many people demonstrate traits of addiction to internet. It is interesting to note that almost everyone that has had the experience of using the Internet finds it difficult to disconnect, but will want to stay glued to their devices for as long as it is possible.
Technology is a two-edged knife as it is capable of being both pervasive and persuasive. A question we have to ask ourselves is; the over-use of technology, whose fault is it? The answers to the reasons for addiction to technology can be viewed from different perspectives.
Below are some of what to blame:
The tech and tech makers
The technologies themselves and their makers are the easiest suspects to blame for the dwindling attention spans of tech users. That is why Nicholas Carr said, “The net is designed to be an interruption system, a machine geared to dividing attention.”
Social media networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and so many others are the major channels of addiction of users — they make their products so inviting and entertaining that people cannot stop using them (They have an intent on keeping users hooked).
As good as the products and services provided by technology are, they can be disruptive, but there are simple things we can do to keep them at bay. For one, we can change how often we receive the distracting notifications that trigger our compulsion to check.
According to Adam Marchick, the CEO of Kahuna, a Mobile Marketing Company, less than 15 percent of smartphone users ever bother to adjust their notification settings — meaning that the remaining 85 percent of us default to the app makers’ every whim and caprices. Google and Apple, that makes the two dominant mobile operating systems, have made it far too difficult to adjust these settings, so it is up to us to take a step to ensure that we re-set these triggers to suit our own needs, not the needs of the app makers.
Your Friends
Your friends also determine how much time you spend online, (i.e., how addicted you are to the use of technology). Some people can never go offline on Facebook ,Whatsapp, Twitter, etc., when their friends are online, hence, making them to stay sometimes up to 20 hours on the internet!
Some are in competition to know who the highest time-spender is on the internet. Just like 2go that wants a measure to keep people to their selves by introducing ranking method, whereby the more you stay online the more your star moves. This tends to make some people get addicted to technology.
It is also worthy of note that due to improvements in technology, groups of people now set up chat groups online where they spend most of their time in chatting as a group.
You
Here, I will have to make a small confession: I found myself to be online far more than I would like. But my case is different as I have something more than chatting and group conversation to do online.
I found that this ability to instantly shift my attention was often a good thing, like when passing time on public transportation.
When I am faced with difficult tasks, like thinking through an article idea or editing the same draft for the hundredth time, for example, a more sinister screen will draw me in. I could easily escape discomfort, temporarily, by answering emails or browsing the web under the guise of so-called “research.” Though, I desperately wanted to lay blame elsewhere, I finally had to admit that my bad habits had less to do with new-age technology and more to do with old-fashioned procrastination.
It s easy to blame technology for being so distracting, but distraction is nothing new. Aristotle and Socrates debated the nature of “akrasia,” our tendency to do things against our interests. If we are honest with ourselves, tech is just another way to occupy our time and minds. If we are not on our devices, we will likely do something similarly unproductive.
Personal technology is indeed more engaging than ever and there is no doubt that companies are engineering their products and services to be more compelling and attractive. But would we want it any other way? The intended result of making something better is that people use it more. That is not necessarily a problem, that is progress.
These improvements do not mean that we should not attempt to control our use of technology. To make sure it does not control us, we should come to terms with the fact that it is more than the technology itself that is responsible for our habits. The idea is for one to control the use of technology. Our workplace culture, social norms and individual behaviors all play a part. To put technology in its place, we must be conscious, not only of how technology is changing, but also of how it is changing us.
About the author
Nwodom Kingsley Michael is a medical student of University of Nigeria Nsukka. He is currently studying medical Radiography and Radiological Sciences at the College of Medicine University of Nigeria Enugu Campus. He is a webmaster too and has interest in technology despite his field.
