Recent research has unveiled that Britons are addicted to their smart phones with one in three users checking their smart phone within five minutes of waking up in the morning. So what is it that is making us Britons so addicted to our smart phone?
The Smart Phone
The phone has advanced so far from its original purpose in life. The telephone was first introduced for people to keep in touch and be able to phone each other from far away. When the first mobile phone came out people thought that it was great being able to stay in communication whilst on the move. As the mobile phone advanced you were then able to send text messages, then you were able to use the Internet on your mobile phone. The next step was the smart phone which had a touch screen and ever since then it has advanced into so much more. Today people use their phone for so much more than just communicating. The smart phone is used for Apps, the Internet, social media, taking photographs, listening to music, emailing and even for to use to make notes and write up work documents.
Smart Phone Addiction
In some respect the smart phone has taken over our lives. We use our phones for everything and anything. It is used in the morning to wake us up with the alarm that we set on our smart phone, upon waking up we check our phone for the latest emails and to log into our social media accounts to start a new day with the online world. You just have to take a look around you when you’re out and about and you will see that almost everyone is glued to their smart phone, for instance if you go out for a meal and look around, you will see that many people are using their smart phones at the table. This was once looked upon as being rude, but now it’s normal for people to use their smart phones to take pictures of their food and send it out on social media such as Snap Chat or post it on Facebook. Selfies are also popular for people that may be out with friends and families as they can share these pictures with friends and family to show what they are up to.
Digital Detox
As good as smart phones can be with all the things that we can do on them, there are times in life where we need a digital detox, where we turn off our smart phones, tablets and games and appreciate life the way we used to. There’s no need to constantly be glued to your smart phone, just put it down and enjoy having a meal out with your partner or going to the cinema with your friends. This may not always be possible as the trouble is we end up relying on the things a smart phone can do. When we are out shopping we may want to see if Amazon, for instance, is selling a DVD cheaper than HMV. When we are watching a film at home and we want to know what an actor has been in then we automatically look it up on websites such as IMDB and when we are out with friends we want to share what we are up to on social media, using our smart phones to take selfies and photographs. It seems as though the smart phone addiction could be hard to give up.
