CRyder Design

Smartphones are constantly affecting our daily more and more as they develop. With the development of smartphones comes the development of social media as well, but these are not necessarily good things. There is a substantial amount of evidence that proves the detrimental effects that social media and smartphones have on our mental health and well-being.

In my white paper titled, “Breaking Free” I discuss these negative effects and how they have developed. I also explain the neurological and psychological research that goes into the development of social media platforms that makes them significantly more addicting than other apps. While social media addictions are commonly overlooked, they have the potential to be just as severe as any other addiction.

Today’s generation of teens is most affected by the negative aspects of smartphones and social media. They are missing out on defining milestones that teens in the generations before them all had the ability to experience. They are also experiencing detrimental effects on their mental health, which leads to higher rates of depression and suicide.

I offer different solutions for overcoming this addiction. The solutions are time blocking and adopting a light phone methodology. Time blocking is when you schedule specific blocks of time where you are and aren’t allowed to use your phone or access social media. Though this may seem like a simple solution, it can be very challenging for those with serious addictions. The key to this solution is maintaining integrity to your time blocks and resisting any urge to use your smartphone or social media on your time block where you are not allowed to do so. A light phone methodology is when you use your phone strictly for its most basic functions, such as making and receiving phone calls and text messages. No social media, no surfing the web, only basic functions. Some individuals choose to use an old-school-style phone so they are truly unable to access modern features.

With this paper, I hope to educate individuals on the existence of social media addictions and provide them with different ways to overcome theirs if they choose to do so.