How about introducing smartphone-free spaces?
Creating phone-free spaces and getting involved in more in-person interactions have become more important now than ever before. Because, with the dramatic rise of tech giants, software companies, brands and social media platforms, we risk social alienation and getting trapped in our virtual worlds
If I cast my mind back (around 15 years back), I can clearly remember those days when extended family members used to meet frequently, have hearty conversations about every silly squabble and exchange pleasantries.
Quite some years down the road, now, I understand those conversations were indeed critical for ensuring mental well-being and maintaining social connections. Because now, I see how everyone is so buried in their portable devices (especially smartphones) that they don't feel the urge to partake in in-person interactions.
According to a report published by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), Bangladesh now has 47% smartphone users, while the number of users will shoot up to 63% by 2025.
It's encouraging, right? Of course, the rising number of smartphone users has greater implications for the economy of the country. But there is also an opportunity to flip it and see the other side.
If you look at the people sitting in the eateries or simply milling around in public places, you will see everyone is carrying a smartphone in their hands.
People nowadays remain wholly immersed in their phones. Everyone has a smartphone and a number of applications are installed on their device. Throughout the day they remain busy with their phone and these apps. They keep checking their phones frequently even when they are with someone.
The innovation of smartphones was okay – I should rather say 'revolutionary.' Then, people witnessed the rise of different social media. Though it was initially used for all the good reasons, people started using, albeit slowly, these platforms for comparatively silly reasons.
With the dramatic rise of tech giants and software companies, brands - through careful contemplation to position themselves as platforms for making communication easier - lured in a large number of users who bit the bait, and got entangled in the virtual world.
Now, every smartphone user installs at least a dozen apps on their device even if they don't need many of these. Dozens of groups are being created on social media, instant messaging or communication apps where people take part in conversation all day long.
Consequently, people are spending very less time for face-to-face conversations in real time with real people, making way for the degeneration of human interactions.
Such obsession with phones is causing devastating and diverse blowbacks.
People are actually getting detached from each other in real life owing to such addiction to smartphones and apps.
Though software companies, telecom operators and others involved in the ecosystem are touting the idea of connecting people and bringing them closer, in reality, people are getting alienated from each other.
For example, family members dining at the same table are not talking to each other, rather scrolling social media is a common trope used nowadays, which is a true reflection of how the omnipresence of technology is actually increasing psychological distance between people while decreasing space difference (distance).
Such increasing social and psychological distance among people is not good for mental health, as nothing is quite comparable to close face-to-face interactions and we always need someone to confide in for our survival.
You need people with whom you can share both joys and sorrows. You have so many friends on social media, yet you feel low sometimes and don't find anyone in times of need because the bubble you live in is virtual. That's why the feeling of loneliness and social isolation is getting stronger among tech-savvy generations.
Again, addiction to phones develops a sense of disconnection and anxiety among the users. In the long run, you find yourself trapped in the vortex of an endless loop of checking what's going on in different social media and messaging apps.
Even if you don't have anything urgent to check, still you keep turning on data usage and scrolling down your phone. That's why people go on holidays or family gatherings along with their phones.
Disconnection anxiety creates alienating feelings and consequently, the users cannot break free from the dopamine feedback loops that ensnare them in endless patterns of posting, receiving feedback, commenting, liking, disliking and checking.
As a result, you forget to live in the moments in shared spaces (like gatherings) where you are supposed to open your heart and share real concerns with your near ones.
Our over-dependence on smartphones and gadgets is also destroying our social communication skills and making us socially awkward. As the users get accustomed to online conversations, it is often seen that they cannot engage in in-person conversations effectively and interactively, making way for catfishing and dwindling in-person interactions.
In such a backdrop, what's the way out?
We need to keep a rein on our smartphone usage, pure and simple. When we are with someone, we should never get our hands back into our pockets to pick up that smartphone and check what's trending or making rounds on social media. Meanwhile, we should talk with the person we are sitting with.
And collectively, we could focus on the deliberate creation of tech or smartphone-free spaces. Edward Tenner, a cultural and technological historian, in his book 'Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences' (1997) advocated the idea of 'deliberate creation and preservation of tech-free spaces'. We could replicate this.
Just imagine – you are watching a movie or a stage show without checking your phone even once. Your experience will be a lot more enjoyable as you can relate more to the storyline with rapt attention in absence of any distractions.
Similarly, if we could dedicate some hours during weekends when adults along with kids or family members will go (leaving phones at home) to open spaces, engage with them, talk and play, it will have wonderful effects on our mental health and interpersonal relationships.
Creating phone-free spaces and getting involved in more in-person interactions are very necessary because putting our phones away will definitely allow us to inhabit moments that otherwise get lost in the nuances created by social media and other redundant apps. If we could do this, it will help us connect better with our surroundings and people, ultimately resulting in a better social life where you will always have someone by your side through thick and thin.
Observing the fixation of modern men with phones, even Martin Cooper, the man who invented mobile phones, has recently suggested people stop scrolling, and advised everyone to get a life by setting priorities. It's time we follow that advice and concentrate more on our life, relations and the people around us.
Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a columnist who likes to delve deeper into the human psyche with a view to exploring the factors that influence it.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
