Hi everyone. I made a short presentation exploring a phenomenon that is taking over our lives which is endless and mindless scrolling over social media. It is something I struggle with too. While seemingly harmless, it plays a major role in affecting our attention spans, ability to focus, and relationships with those around us as well. I have noticed being drawn to go down the rabbit hole any time I have a few spare minutes and delaying the tasks that need to be done. I hope we can all pay more attention to how we are using our time when we are scrolling and also evaluate the quality of the content we are consuming so it does not lead to more harmful consequences.
References:
Chuck, E. (2024, April 16). Major psychology group says infinite scrolling, other social media features are ‘particularly risky’ to youth mental health. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/psychology-group-says-infinite-scrolling-social-media-features-are-par-rcna147876
Unplugged. (2023, January 23). Why we cant stop mindlessly scrolling and 7 tips to beat it. https://unplugged.rest/blog/why-scrolling-is-so-addictive-7-tips
Woolley, K., Sharif, M. A. (2022, January 31). The Psychology of Your Scrolling Addiction. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/01/the-psychology-of-your-scrolling-addiction
Some really great resources here. the NBC news quotes
“The American Psychological Association is calling on technology companies to take more steps to protect adolescents, arguing age restrictions alone don’t address the dangers”
I wholeheartedly believe the only thing that will move the needle for corporations is profit. As long as adolescence continue to endless scroll, and add revenue rakes in, corporations will not only refuse to change, but will double down. No amount of scientific data will make a change until dollars in wallets begin to change.
This is not an argument against these studies, but a criticism of unchecked capitalisms. And perhaps it is the case that these corporations are not malicious themselves, merely endless scrolling of greed, lust, and pride are high profit drivers in this demographic.
This was a very informative and relatable post about the ways that continuous usage of mobile devices and social media apps directly impacts our daily lives. You brought up great points about how shorter, targeted content, accessibility, and even the fear of missing out are what keep us in an almost addictive loop when it comes to using our devices. At the same time, it’s worth remembering that distractions have existed long before phones and social media, as people have found themselves distracted by radios, televisions, drawings, conversations, or even daydreaming. In educational contexts, before the widespread use of mobile phones and other digital devices, students could be distracted by anything from looking out the window to counting ceiling tiles. Distractions aren’t new, but the distractions that are presented through the use of mobile phones have exponentially increased, and, as you mentioned, are impacting our mental health, physical health, and brain development. That’s why I really appreciated the great strategies you listed, such as setting a timer or alarm to remind oneself to stop scrolling. It may seem simple, especially in the age of apps that have more interesting features and can calculate time spent on your device, show you friends’ screen times, etc. Though sometimes, what we truly need is a low-maintenance way to remind ourselves to put the phones down, especially in this complex digital age.