As I sit here, in front of my laptop, reading an article about technology ruining a generation, I can’t help but feel guilty. Why? Because I can relate to many of the distressing symptoms that characterize smartphone and social media addiction. My phone has become an extension of me, constantly in my hand, on my desk, in my pocket—somewhere in my vicinity for immediate checking if need be. If it is not on my person, I feel an anxiety, an emptiness, incomparable to any other feeling I’ve ever known. I even feel it vibrate in my pocket when it’s not there. And it’s not just me, it’s my whole generation that has become dependent on a tiny rectangle that holds their main means of looking out into the outside world. Modern technology is the agent of change that drives the paradigm shift that we have seen among today’s young people.
A paradigm is defined to be “an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype.” Defining paradigm shifts, Thomas Kuhn called them revolutions where “one conceptual world view is replaced by another”. In the past, the world appeared narrower, in present time, before our eyes. Gradually, we gained more knowledge: television, the internet, e-mails. It culminated in an “intellectually violent revolution.” Now, we have instantaneous information from anywhere in the world at any given time right at our fingertips. The world has become less about experiencing and more about being in the constant know. While this endows owners of technology with massive power, it also burdens them with unnecessary responsibility and stress. Now, we see the world in likes on Instagram, in friends on Snapchat, in tweet characters.
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Yet, perhaps, the paradigm is not so much the world as it is the young people. The archetypical teenager in the last century spent more time with their friends and family, was more independent, and spent plenty of time out of the house being rebellious. Now, everyone pictures young people on a sofa, shutters drawn, watching Netflix while they scroll through Instagram. The change is great, and it is irreversible. I feel close to people through text and Snapchatting. And when I do spend time in person with them, it is difficult for me to refrain from documenting our time together on social media. I mindlessly scroll through Instagram when I have even an ounce of free time. And, as Twenge mentions in the article, it causes severe fear-of-missing-out or FOMO. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt my stomach dip in disappointment because my other people are out having fun without me. Older generations did not have to bear the burden of the smartphone.
While I cannot say that I am depressed or have ever thought about suicide, I can testify that it has become a commonplace of my generation. Mental health has been on the decline for years now. While some say that less stigma around mental health has resulted in more young people opening up about it recently, thus inflating mental illness rates, technology does feed into these numbers. An overload of information constantly places young people under pressure and crushes their spirits at the same time. Constantly being conscious of ourselves and others, and of our social relations, turns us into egocentric, secluded creatures that can spend hours upon hours in front of a screen. The rise of smartphones can be considered a paradigm shift because it has twisted our childhoods and our teenage-years and turned them technology-centric, driving us to become the worst versions of ourselves at times.
In some ways, the age of the internet has created “information overload.” We are bombarded with news articles, tweets, images, and videos constantly in our day-to-day lives, and unlike generations past, there are millions of ways to engage with media. Research has shown that notifications release small amounts of dopamine in the brain, and social media outlets reinforce that loop, keeping us addicted. The ‘likes-followers’ nature of these platforms create a competitive sphere for the darker sides of our personalities, like you mentioned in your post.