It's not just kids! Phones can make all of us worse.
“The digital revolution eats its children.”
I came across that statement this week and wow, what a claim. But is it true?
It was part of a discussion that emerged last month when it was revealed that Facebook knew Instagram has negative effects on its users, especially girls, but did nothing about it - and indeed, tried to hide it. The information came initially through a Wall Street Journal article (yes, another one) called “Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show.”
Some of the recent research that emerged, cited directly in the article:
Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse
Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression… across all groups.
Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram
Senator Blumenthal is quoted in the article as saying. “Facebook seems to be taking a page from the textbook of Big Tobacco—targeting teens with potentially dangerous products while masking the science in public.” Indeed.
Behind the article came the 60 Minutes interview with Frances Haugen, followed by the Senate hearing.
The question behind the article is this: is cell phone use good for the human soul?
This is, and has been, the focal point of my work. And it’s not just a question for kids; it’s for all of us.
And the answer, by and large, is no. Phones are at the heart of an increase in anxiety and depression - for all of us. They increase our jealousy and enlarge insecurity. They are the main source of solitude deprivation in our age - a phenomenon that robs us of imagination, creativity, and peace.
Phones, just tools, are not themselves bad. Social media is not inherently bad. But the effects they cause (and often do) can be very, very bad.
If we are interesting in human flourishing, we must pay close attention to all of this. Smarter people than Senator Blumenthal, long ago, warned us of the importance of attentiveness not just to physical health… but to soul health too. The latter is arguably more important.
So I say: if you wouldn’t smoke a pack of cigarettes today, don’t spend a passive hour on your phone either. And don’t let your kids, either. It’s not that hard to change our habits, if we make that decision. And there’s still time to reverse this - for ourselves, society, and future generations.
Let’s do it.
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