Birth of an Indian smartphone user-
I have lived all my life in India and until three years ago, despite the best efforts and promises by Internet service providers, I had to make do with a limited internet data plan. My story is no different from average Indian smartphone users, who were also required to rationalize their data usage.
In the last few years, the Indian telecom sector saw a change and we got introduced to unlimited* internet data. (A limit still exists but it is greater than a person can use in 24 hours a day).
What came along with this unlimited internet was a fundamental change in the behavior of Indian society.
The western world was probably used to this lifestyle but constant presence/interference of a smartphone was a new edition to our daily lives.
Behavioral change of a smartphone user-
With free unlimited data, the only reason people turned off the internet was for saving their smartphone battery. But with more mAh on our phone batteries, we had no reason to go offline.
We now had live streaming of almost everything on our smartphone. Televisions lost the limelight as they required us to sit at a place. Desktops and Laptops failed as they could not fit into our pocket. Smartphones seem the right choice for our busy schedules.
Presently we can’t imagine our lives without staying online. Even at night when we sleep, the internet icon smiles at us and we let ourselves be online, just in case!
Changing priorities of a smartphone user-
Our emergencies now require internet to reach us, or so we want to believe.
Just to make it clear, I am also guilty of disturbingly high screen time. The Internet has a grip on me just like it has on you. Surprisingly enough, I could not come up with a reason when I tried to justify why exactly I need to be online all the time.
When we keep our internet all the time we expose ourselves to a constant distraction of never-ending notifications. Even research shows that our brain cannot multitask. When we try to do two things at once, our brain lacks the capacity to perform these tasks successfully. But every day this is what we put ourselves through.
Our sense of what is important is heavily compromised and so are our priorities. Unlimited internet is eating up our limited time and we don’t even acknowledge it.
We are living virtually and vicariously.
Most of us are glued to a smartphone or Laptop screen and feel anxious or left out when we get away from the Internet. Aimlessly going through videos, photos, social media posts without making a conscious choice on what one actually wants to see or read over the internet. Staying online is like an escape route from reality.
Adverse effects of a smartphone on its user-
The habit of being online or being on our smartphone has seeped into our younger generation as well. Kids before getting into a playschool can get their way around a smartphone. They refuse to eat unless their favorite rhymes are played on YouTube, they refuse to sleep unless they get a phone and the list goes on. Our future is caught in the claws of the internet without us understanding how bad it is for their health, mental and physical.
The toll on the health of adults due to increased usage of a phone is totally neglected. When we have a hectic schedule for life and a city struggling with pollution we tend to blame them for our anxiety, fatigue and headaches. Our smartphone seems incapable of affecting our lives.
Dying Social Life of a smartphone user-
A heartfelt conversation is no more a regular thing. Making a call to someone seems like a stretch when you can simply chat with them. The comment section of a Facebook post is where we express our opinion nowadays. We no more feel or realize the need for a private conversation.
One on one conversation is replaced by online chatting. Now we listen to our favorite music, shop for a dress and quickly check a cat video while we exchange texts with friend or family. Even the fights and arguments happen over a chat. We are too busy to individually allot time to the things that matter to us. We are escaping the reality by drowning ourselves online.
Reality Check for a smartphone user-
All things said I can’t remember my daily routine before I adapted to always being online. Now I wonder if it was a boon in disguise by having limited internet time at our hands.
Do we really need to feed ourselves all the unnecessary stuff posted on Facebook, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Youtube, Netflix, Twitter, and Instagram just because we have lossless streaming and good internet speed at our disposal?
Staying online is fueling our compulsive thinking and anxiety. You will be surprised to see that you come back to reality and get aware of your surroundings when you are offline.
Time to act for a smartphone user-
We are so occupied with the internet that we are failing to address or even acknowledge the need for a reality check. Are we really prioritizing or choosing what to do with our time or just drifting along by being always online, always available.
A necessary evil must be allowed for a greater good to result. But is this the reality of us being online all the time?
The decision to bring a change is mine and yours to make. So what do you want to do with your time?
Image Source :
- All Images used in the blog post have been taken by freelance photographer Jatin Adhlakha. A very special thanks to him for allowing me to use the images which strongly carried the message I am trying to convey through this post.
- You can check Jatin’s work in color on his Instagram page jatin.adhlakha
Nice photographs. You could have made it a little short. Still its good.