Everywhere you look today, screens, especially social media, are being accused of being addictive, causing mental health problems, and negatively impacting childhood development.
But does the evidence support this?
To find out, we talked pete etchles, Professor of Psychology and Science Communication at Bath Spa University, Author Unlocked: The real science of screen time. Pete tells us why we need to redefine our relationship with technology and why social media, for all its evils, may not be as bad as we often think. I'll give it to you.
What are the problems with the concept of screen time?
We all know what screen time is. That's why it’s so appealing, right? But at the same time, screen time is such a broad and vague definition that no one knows. It can literally mean anything.
Screen time basically refers to the amount of time you spend on some screen-based technology within a certain time frame. So it could be within the last 24 hours, or within the past week, or something like that. And it’s very attractive because you can attach numbers that are very simple and easy to understand.
But I think we have been misguided. When we start talking about this, screen time is just a meaningless concept, so there’s no point in talking about it or paying any attention to it.
How does screen time affect us? Or how does screen time affect our mental health? After all, the numbers on screen time and the effects on our mental health You're going to get some kind of number that’s a measure.
But you can never get over it. We are only concerned with correlations.
When we start talking about our screen time actually So it gets very complex very quickly. And it doesn’t tell you anything meaningful at all.
In some ways, we’ve become stuck because screen time is such a big, vague term. And it becomes what we want and is used to sum up the many concerns we have about our online lives. However, there is actually nothing special about it.
Well, screen time doesn’t really help. But are we using screens in an unhealthy and perhaps even addictive way?
They say things like, “Oh, I played that game the other day or watched that show, and I was really into it.” What we mean here is that you really liked it or played or used it often.
Sometimes we say this word with a slightly negative connotation, but what it means is that you binge-watched a TV show and didn’t feel very good afterwards. That’s how we use the word “addiction” on a daily basis – today’s conditions.
Obviously, addiction has other meanings, and there are very strict clinical definitions for things like drug addiction and gambling addiction.
The two are often confused. We begin to think of this kind of everyday language use in more formal terms, and vice versa. So we get stuck in this mindset.
So when we think about how we use social media or play games, it's almost exclusively in terms of excessive or repetitive use. Questions like how much is too much? Is screen time good or bad for us?
This is a real problem we have in the broader conversation about screens and our relationship with them, but it’s also a problem in the research literature as well.
This leaves us with very limited solutions, such as abstinence and discontinuation, that have proven to be ineffective in practice.
This framework does not really summarize how to use screen-based technology. Even if we cover a specific aspect, such as social media, it is also not comprehensive of its use, as it is very multifaceted.
So are there healthy and unhealthy uses of screens? Yeah, probably. But I think we may be asking the wrong kind of question, or rather, framing the question in the wrong kind of way.
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We are fundamentally social animals, right? And social media – hint in the title – it’s a socially connected experience.
This is a huge oversimplification of what social media is, but basically at its core it’s about talking to people and connecting with people, and there’s a lot of power in that.
We often forget about useful elements like social media.
This is a nearly meaningless term because it covers so many different things. But we’ve all had the experience of using social media during the pandemic to stay in touch with loved ones and those we care about who we can’t physically see.
WhatsApp and FaceTime are used to chat with people, play games, and connect people fundamentally. Connections are not always positive and require very deep, difficult, and very emotional discussions and debates about how to manage and curate those experiences.
But there’s also a good side to it, and we need to be reminded of that from time to time.
It may seem like I’m an advocate for big tech companies. What I’ve been saying is that if you rethink and reframe the way you think about your relationship with technology, technology will give you a little more power.
Being aware of when and why you use your phone can help you develop healthy habits, says Pete Etchells – Image courtesy of Getty
One of the characteristics of this addiction framework is that it disenfranchises people. Smartphones are addictive by design, so if you’re addicted to your smartphone, something has happened to you. Therefore, it’s very difficult for you personally to do anything about it – that is not the case at all.
We have control and authority over the situation. It takes effort, it’s difficult, and it’s not something you can do once and then fix it. But we have power there, and it’s a bit paradoxical, but it’s very important in holding the tech industry accountable.
There is this idea that social media is addictive because it releases large amounts of dopamine, but this is complete nonsense on many levels and a complete misunderstanding of the neuroscience of dopamine.
I can understand where these concerns come from, because in my experience, everyone feels as if they’ve had a bad experience with their device and we need to hold the industry accountable.
But we frame things in such a sensational way that’s not supported by research, so it’s very easy for tech companies to ignore that and say, “It’s all noise.”
We need to better understand what the real science says about screens so we can ask better questions that are harder for the tech industry to ignore.
What advice would you give to people who are worried about using technology right now?
That’s a great question and obviously something we’re all concerned about.
You should try not to panic, as things can always be resolved. I try to avoid thinking that the only way to be happy with technology is to get rid of it altogether. It’s not the only solution.
Think about technology use in terms of habit, rather than addiction or overuse. It is very easy for us to develop habits that are neutral in themselves. It’s what else happens or situational and contextual factors that create good or bad habits.
One of the examples I use in this book is the behavior of checking your phone. Checking your phone is a neutral habit. It is neither harmful nor beneficial to us.
If you’re driving down the road and all you want to do is check your phone to see what people are posting on Instagram, that’s a really bad thing to wear because it’s an obvious physical hazard. It’s a habit.
But checking your phone when you’re feeling a little lonely at night, wanting to connect with friends, or start a conversation with someone is a great habit that can have a positive impact on your sense of well-being.
This kind of approach to technology habits argues that it’s not just screen usage per se that’s the problem.
The more you get into the habit of looking at a particular screen mindlessly and without thinking, the more you put yourself at risk for problematic episodes.
Next time, ask yourself, “Could I catch myself a little earlier in the process to stop it?” If you can do this repeatedly, you will be able to get rid of bad habits. It takes time, effort, and you may get things wrong. It’s okay, everyone makes mistakes, but what we’re trying to do is improve our relationships.
What do you think about calls to ban smartphones for everyone under 16?
It’s a really difficult, emotional and controversial subject. I’m worried that this will be interpreted in the context of banning smartphones. Some people are in difficult situations and it is very important that they have a mechanism to keep in touch with people outside of school.
People in caring situations are a great example of this, and I think all too often we forget about those groups in these kinds of conversations. Outright bans are bad because they further alienate already struggling children.
Another aspect of this is that what a ban effectively does is make it available for later use. If you have developed digital literacy skills by that point, that’s perfectly fine.
Telling someone to stop calling and then leaving them alone is a really dangerous situation. Because eventually your kids will get a phone, and you don’t want that to happen without them knowing exactly what they’re doing with it. And they don’t know how to live in that world.
If it happened at 16 or 18 or 25 or 5, it wouldn’t matter, but it would still be a problem.
This interview is a shortened version of the original. Listen to the full conversation on Instant Genius.
About our experts
pete etchles Professor of Psychology and Science Communication at Bath Spa University and author of the following books: Losing a good game – why we play games and what they can do for usand Unlocked – The real science of screen time (and how to spend it better). His research interests include understanding the effects of video game play and other forms of digital technology use on short- and long-term behavior. He is also a scientific consultant to the BBC. horizon.
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
