The compulsive (and frequently mindless) use of smartphones is a growing worldwide problem. Dr. Greenfield was recently interview by Tech Radar in the U.K. on this topic. Here is an excerpt from his interview with Simon Hill:
“It doesn’t matter where you are these days – people are being rude in a way they didn’t used to be. Ignoring you in the car or at a restaurant. Annoying everyone in the cinema. Blanking you at a party.
Look around and you’ll see why: there’s a good chance you’ll see at least one person using a smartphone. You might be reading this on one right now.
Smartphone penetration in the UK stands at 71% as of March this year according to data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech (with similar numbers in developed nations around the world) and that figure is still rising.
People take their smartphones to bed with them, lay them on the table as they eat, and even take them into the toilet.
The manners passed down from generation to generation are being forgotten in a Tweet. It’s not unusual for people to pull a phone out and start tapping away while you are in direct face-to-face conversation (it’s called phubbing), and come on, admit it: you’ve probably done it yourself.
“Abusing and sometimes compulsively using our smartphones can be a real problem,” explains Dr. David Greenfield, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
“It can lead to a marked reduction in real-time social interaction as our capacity and desire for regular face-to-face conversation decreases.””
The complete Tech Radar news article can be found here.
