Technology: Smartphone
Keywords: Unconscious bias, Anxiety, Depression
What came up when googling “smartphone anxiety”:
- “Smartphone Addiction“: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/smartphone-addiction.htm
- “Warning: Reading this on a smartphone may cause anxiety, researchers say“: https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-smartphones-causing-student-anxiety-20190607-story.html
- “Survey: Heavy Smartphone Use Tied to Anxiety, Loneliness, Depression“: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6449671/
What are makers of this technology (e.g. companies, organizations) doing to address the issue/keywords searched?
One of Apple’s newer updates introduced a feature called Screen Time which not only keeps track of the time that the user spends on the phone, but also breaks down how much time is spent in each app used. Every week there is a weekly screen report presenting how much time the user spent staring at their screen; and for me, the numbers are always shocking. The feature also shows the percentage increase or decrease in the amount of time spent this week versus the week prior.
Also, Instagram is planning to disable users from seeing how many likes another user got on a post. Only the user who posted it can see. This may be a great help in reducing the need for people to compare their lives and appearances to one another when they can’t quantify how many people favor another’s over theirs.
I truly believe that both of these are working / will work for smartphone users in minimizing their addiction to their devices and reducing anxiety, and hopefully regaining some of their life back, away from the screen.
Diversity+Tech 