Transcript for:
Understanding Mobile Phone Addiction

Nearly 80% of people cannot watch this video from beginning to end because your concentration has been permanently damaged . However, if you are in the following situation, there is still hope. Hi everyone, I am Avi. Are you the nanny of your mobile phone? Or the mobile phone is your nanny. Everyone has a mobile phone in their hand. Every day, you put it in expensive protective clothing like taking care of a baby . You are afraid that it will fall down and you feed it to charge it frequently, and you are afraid that it will starve. When you hear its call, you immediately hold it in the palm of your hand to see what happened . Or on the contrary, it is your nanny who takes the trouble to wake you up every day when you are lying in bed, reminds you of your schedule, and takes you to where you want to go to manage it. The most important thing about your social circle is entertainment. You can't leave it for a moment because you are addicted to it . Why are you probably wasting your life? Revealing the psychological manipulation design of social media. 3 ways to get rid of mobile phone addiction. Welcome to subscribe to the channel to see more psychology and life knowledge sharing : Because you are easy to forget. In the era of AI taking off, mobile phones have become as portable as clothing. Objects and tools themselves are not good or bad, but users can be "broken" by it. Frequent use of mobile phones creates a dependence on mobile phones . This situation of losing self-control when you realize that you want to stop, but it is difficult to stop. It is the so-called "mobile phone addiction." In a 2012 study, researchers proposed that mobile phones are likely to be "the largest non-drug addiction of the 21st century." This means that being "addicted to mobile phones" is like "taking drugs." Vitamin C: oh! ? The scary thing is... addictive "drugs" that are strictly prohibited are now readily available "comfort toys" for children and even cause some children to have withdrawal reactions like drug addicts. People predicted today's situation as early as 12 years ago. Things are not just based on imagination. Now many medical experts have begun to suggest that mobile phone addiction and drug addiction have very similar reactions in the brain. We use three points to compare. 1. Activate the brain reward system when a person is using a mobile phone , whether it is watching videos. Or when receiving a message, an area in the brain called VTA (ventral tegmental area) will release a neurotransmitter "dopamine" that causes desire and pursuit . "Dopamine" will activate different areas of the brain to produce a series of behaviors. Reactions include happiness and excitement when swiping the phone. This pleasure will make people continue to use the phone repeatedly. What is puzzling is that this behavior is very similar to the reaction of drug addicts. Smoking and taking drugs can also directly stimulate the VTA of the brain to release a large amount of "Dopamine" makes people feel high and excited. Who can refuse to have more of this feeling after experiencing this kind of pleasure ? So they keep repeating for more. 2. Tolerance increases over time and the drug becomes Addicts begin to find that the pleasure brought by drugs is not as much as before . They need to take more or higher doses to achieve the previous high and pleasure. This phenomenon is called "tolerance" and the frequent use of mobile phones has increased. It is no longer enough for people to scroll on their mobile phones for one or two hours a day. In order to return to the happy feeling of the past, they begin to spend more time on their mobile phones , whether it is browsing social media, playing games, or searching for information. They start to have fun and entertainment while waiting for free time. They skate secretly when they are bored at work and in class, and even when they have no time, they have to skate while doing it because only more can satisfy them. Vitamin C: Is it really that exaggerated? 3. Withdrawal phenomenon This may sound a bit exaggerated , but think about the people around you or the comparison. I really can't leave my phone, and I am addicted to my phone. At this time, a situation arises. When the phone addict cannot use the phone or the phone is not around, they will start to feel anxious, restless, and even unable to suppress sudden rage. This scene is just like Drug addicts in detoxification centers are exactly the same . When drug addicts do not use or reduce drugs, they will experience tremors, nausea, anxiety, emotional instability, etc. This is a "withdrawal phenomenon" of addicts. Maybe they have used or done this. It no longer provides them with pleasure. This is just to avoid the uncomfortable feeling caused by not doing it . These three points together are actually a person's "addictive process." Mobile phone addiction and drug addiction are Such a coincidence. Regarding the topic of "addiction", I have previously dedicated an episode to explain the entire mechanism of addiction in detail. If you are interested, you can wait and go to the information column to check it out . Just looking at the time or number of times the mobile phone is used cannot judge whether a person is addicted. If you are addicted to mobile phones, you can quickly observe yourself in one sentence : "I can't control myself not to check my mobile phone. When the mobile phone is not around me, I will feel anxious and uneasy . This insecurity has affected my daily life." Everyone has a story It ’s the end of March in 2024. Let’s not talk about last year or earlier. If you don’t know how you spent these three months, it’s likely that your time was wasted on your mobile phone. We will use 2 Watching movies at 1x speed , but the irony is that our real-life day is like 2x speed. We don’t do much in a day, and it’s gone... So do you think you are wasting your life? According to a book titled "Can't Stop: How Technology Makes Us Addicted" published in 2017 by Adam Ott, a Ph.D. in social psychology from Princeton University , he mentioned that you may be addicted to your mobile phone not because of your weak willpower but because of your mobile phone. There is an ulterior addictive design hidden behind it. The following is my personal integrated mobile application design and psychological analysis of how mobile phone designers use 6 steps to make you addicted. Step 1: Push notifications on all mobile apps. Whether it is communication, games, social networking, study, work, takeaway, shopping mall, navigation, calendar, etc., there is a "notification" function on the app . This default function does not seem to be lethal , but it is comparable to Harry Potter's. "Avada Kedavra" Spell Whether it is the arrival of a new message on social media, an email , or a new mission in the game, even if you set the mute, the moment your phone lights up, you are unconsciously like a magic spell. Reach out, pick it up and take a look. This design uses a feedback reward. Human beings are born with the instinct of "novelty seeking". When we receive new information, the brain will release dopamine , bringing a pleasant feeling. In fact , the screen lights up and the ringtones appear again and again. It's the designer's silent incantation : "Come and look at your phone... Come and look at your phone." Gradually, you may even behave strangely and can't help it even without receiving a notification . Pick it up and take a look at step 2: Infinite scrolling & auto-play only allow you to pick up the phone for two or three seconds. For a successful app, it is not qualified and you must hold it all the time . Please take a look to see if your gestures when holding the phone are consistent. It makes no difference if you swipe through social media You only need to hold the phone with one hand and slide up with one thumb to complete the activation of the "time black hole". You will find that Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and other social media are endless in sliding up. As long as you keep skating, there will always be something new to see. Human beings have a "loss aversion" mentality. In 2004, a new term "Fear of Missing Out" came out. FOMO refers to the deep fear that you may lose your temper when you are not there. Very meaningful things drive me to subconsciously participate in it. For example, I worry about missing the updates of friends or colleagues. I feel like I am out of touch with society if I don’t watch news on my mobile phone for a day . However, the content designed to play automatically and endlessly makes it difficult to stop because every time Exciting content occasionally appears in the swipe , and it also satisfies the need to avoid the pain of "missing out". Step 3: Short videos . The short videos here not only refer to YouTube Shorts, but also include IG Reel, FB Stories, TikTok and other platforms as long as they are short. Videos within one minute, 30 seconds or even 15 seconds have become the mainstream design of addictive platforms. Shorts of just a few seconds can quickly raise people's emotions to a high point, attract the attention of a large number of users , and at the same time destroy Human concentration has been mentioned before. The brain will release dopamine when you obtain new information, making you feel excited. What do you think of the short-term output and infinite upward sliding design ? Yes, this state is like a gambler sitting in front of a flashing slot machine. The slot machine can be said to be the cocaine of the gambling world and is very addictive. The gameplay of the slot machine is very simple. Just pull the lever next to it and the screen will rotate . Maybe you can gamble. A gambler will experience countless failures , but just hearing a victory bell and colorful flashing pictures is enough for him to continue playing. Even if you are not a gambler, you have already proven that you cannot afford to lose by watching the short video . Four: Likes, comments and sharing. In the original Facebook, there was no like function. In 2008, Facebook added a white thumbs-up button to the interface for the first time. If you click it, it will notify the other person that "you liked his post" and then Buttons for leaving messages, sharing, and likes are essential functions for all social media , because without them, users will probably not stay on it. This is related to the satisfaction of human beings' "social needs". Even people who like to be alone can't stand it. The negative feelings brought about by loneliness are because "solitude" and "loneliness" are not the same concept. The detailed reasons will not be elaborated here. It is undeniable that human beings are creatures seeking social recognition. Just "likes, comments, and being shared" give people a certain The feeling of social recognition. Even if you have never posted a text or posted a photo, as long as you have registered a social media account, it is enough to show that you need this "online identity" by watching other people's lives, giving them likes and saying "you are so beautiful" . It is an interaction that helps you establish an "online identity" and is also a way to gain social recognition . A simple real-life example: a couple, family or friends sitting in a restaurant are likely to choose an "online identity" even if the other person is right in front of them. " Rather than "real identity", this is one of the characteristics of mobile phone addiction. Step 5: Personalized recommendations. Todd Beaupre, the management director responsible for YouTube's growth and development, once revealed that YouTube's recommendation mechanism is based on the audience's viewing habits, interaction records, The emphasis of recommending videos through preferences is to help viewers find videos , not to help videos find viewers. If you are a YouTube creator, this sentence is very important to you . Of course, not only YouTube , but Netflix, Facebook, Instagram, and Xiaohongshu are all based on each user. The viewing history, search habits and rating feedback are used to formulate personalized recommendations for each user , because in this way you can stick to the platform satisfactorily and never leave. There are two strong laws of attraction for human beings, namely curiosity and demand . Personalized recommendations satisfy In order to meet the needs of the audience, videos that are constantly on the verge of being banned are also interspersed in the recommendation column to arouse the curiosity of users. You may have heard the saying "Curiosity will kill the cat" , but in fact there is another half to this sentence. Curiosity kills the cat, but satisfaction brings it back. The addiction that curiosity brings is traceable. The brain rewards humans for learning and exploring new knowledge. It begins to release when people are simply exposed to novel things. Dopamine activates the entire reward system. It is unknown. Although it is full of uncertainty and danger, people continue to pursue more because of such stimulation and excitement. Step 6: Number of followers and views j Number of fans and views on social media. This seems to be a simple display of numbers. I think it is actually a basic design that fully supports all the previous five mechanisms. You might as well think deeply about the fact that there are two roles in all social media. One is the publisher and the other is the follower. Whether it is YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok, the content has always been They are not released by the platform itself. The core mission of the platform itself is to keep these two characters on the platform. His method is to display the number of fans and views. When everyone comes to the platform, they do not know each other’s existence. However, the platform takes the interaction Digitally, we start to know how many people are watching us. We also start to know how many people are watching with us. It is a motivational cycle. When the poster knows that someone is following him, he will start to actively post photos and then followers will be gained. More content keeps people engaged and comes back to motivate publishers to post more photos. Want to drive people to take action. Set a small goal that can be achieved now. People will be driven by achievements beyond the immediate. This is called "goals" in psychology. "Setting theory" and achievement motivation. For example, the platform will set target rewards for publishers. When a YouTuber reaches 100,000 subscribers, it will give a silver medal. When it reaches 1 million, there will be a gold medal, and when it reaches 10 million, it will give a diamond trophy of 100 million . Subscribe to get the red diamond trophy. These platforms take advantage of the pursuit of social recognition and self-worth to turn us into the driving force for continuous participation. When the 6 steps are completed, some people have discovered that their opponents are addicted and even developed Nomophobia. Symptoms If you also want to get rid of your addiction to mobile phones, you can refer to three methods : 1. Know that you are using your mobile phone. Some people really don’t realize that they are using their mobile phones for most of the day. You can download a mobile phone usage tracking app or have one on your iPhone itself. Screen Time can check which apps you spend the most time on and at what time. 2. Set goals for yourself and arrange a time period for using your mobile phone every day. For example, from 9 am to 12 am, which is the time to focus on work, it is completely forbidden to touch the phone. Even if you receive a message, you must wait until 12 o'clock to reply or give yourself 1 or 2 hours after work to refresh. Try to strictly abide by 3 . Sometimes you can’t help but put your phone out of sight because your phone is right in front of you. You can put it on silent mode when you are concentrating. Add steps to get your phone, such as putting it in the kitchen drawer as mentioned in "Atomic Habits" To develop a good habit and make it easier to execute. To get rid of a bad habit and make it more difficult to execute. Each additional execution step will have a great impact . Of course, the above are just methods . Whether you can get rid of it depends on your heart. Determination is like what I mentioned in the addiction episode. If this is a demon addiction that you have raised, only your mind can be strong to eliminate it. All other methods are just auxiliary.