Indranil B

In this modern technology age, we are all using our Smartphone a lot. But there is no controlled usage of it, or no conventions (rules) for its usage. On average a person (child, teen or adult) spends about 7 hours on a Smartphone. This time is spent on entertainment, communication, social media, games, online education, reading e-books, and so on. Unfortunately this “Screen-time” is not monitored or managed properly; teens are getting exposed to the wrong side of the internet (pornography, online criminal activities, unethical entertainment, and harmful activities) and are getting tempted to ill-use the Smartphone. Not only teens but even adults are getting inclined towards the wrong side of technology , this is happening because they are unaware of the harmful potential it possesses , they are solely being run by the impulses of the pleasure seeking mind and the adrenaline surges which instigate them to unconsciously do wrong . This is a big problem right now and one which can easily be referred to an imminent catastrophe.

I observed my own Smartphone usage, but I was not into social media, so I observed the usage pattern of the others around me and found out certain points –

1) We are social beings and like being in touch, but when it comes to online platforms and mediums of “connecting”, they provide both anonymity and superficiality, both of which help us hide our true identity and establish quick and fake relationships with other people whom we may never really know, this removes the social-performance factor which we otherwise would have considered were we talking to people in real life (physical interaction).

2) We are influenced by colours, shapes, sounds, and all other sensory inputs directly at the neural constitution, the apps and services we use have made use of this to promote their usage and thus produce more revenue. They have done it for a good purpose, but the problem is the influence from multiple different services produce mixed reactions and sometimes confusion among all the complexities of digital environments. This puts us in a state of high stimulation, and slowly we start liking it so much that we resist from going down the stimulation scale and only find ways to feed the hunger for more stimulants.

3) We all have ancestral mating instincts and this is a requirement for survival, for continuing generations, but the process is supposed to be done in physical environments. But after the advent of digital pornography and cybersex, the natural processes are suppressed and we rely on superficial and quick methods of pleasure and satisfaction and do not bother to actually go and live in a physical environment. We even lose the ability to distinguish between real and fake relationships be it with the same or opposite gender

4) After a certain age, teens desire for independence, they start taking their own decisions and believe in their appropriateness and accuracy. It is the natural way of development, this is supposed to happen, teens make wrong decisions too and slowly learn from them and turn into an adult. But the influence from digital environments, services, advertisements and information, teens’ natural thought process is getting damaged and this damage exhibits itself in the teens’ decisions (like scamming people to make money ) and their consequent results (like legal action taken against them).

5) We all have complacence levels (how much we consider right) and complacence objects (what we consider right) and they are wired into our brains slowly as we grow and learn about the world through actual physical interaction with it. But the multiple opinions being spread in digital social platforms greatly alter these pointers and ultimately raise them , sometimes so high that wrong activities (like staying up all night and gaming) appear to us like “trends” or “bravery” and we perform them to get adverse results (eye problems and depression)

These are apparently relatable and unfortunately devastating, We all can understand these negative qualities of the digital situation, we may even want to move away from these and live a happy and safe digital life while at the same time live longer in physical existence, many of us succeed but still a great majority of the population is suffering for these because of lack of proper knowledge and the will to go with the trend, no matter where the trend takes you.

So what’s the solution ?

Working on it……more about it soon…….