A digital detox is a period of time when a person voluntarily refrains from using digital devices such as smartphones, computers, and social media platforms. [1] [2] This form of detoxification has gained popularity, as individuals have increased their time spent on digital devices and the Internet.
A 2015 survey conducted by Deloitte found that around 59% of smartphone users check a social media platform in the five minutes prior to going to bed, and within 30 minutes of waking up. [3]
Motivations to start a digital detox include: [4] [5] [6]
The extended overuse of technology has been found to reduce quality of sleep, cause eye strain and vision problems, as well as lead to the increased occurrence of migraine headaches. [11] A previous research survey of over 7,000 participants found that approximately 70% of those who use technology with screens have experienced "digital eye strain as a result of the growing use of [screen possessing technological devices]". [11]
Research on the effects of popular technological devices such as cellphones and computers on sleep has suggested that the light emitted from screens may suppress the production of the hormone melatonin, an important regulatory biochemical that controls the duration and character of sleep cycles. [12]
A study of 145 American adults recruited through MTurk in 2016 suggested that marital satisfaction can be lowered if either partner "snubs" the other in favor of using a cellphone. The act was also associated with a higher incidence of depression and a reported lower satisfaction with life. The self-reported attachment styles of the participants were seen to have an effect such that individuals with attachment anxiety reported a higher degree of cell phone conflict. [13]
Another study suggested that the visible presence of mobile devices during conversations may have a limiting effect on the sense of connection felt between those involved in the conversation as well as the overall quality of the conversation. [14]
A subset of digital detox is social media detox, which is a period of time when individuals voluntarily stay away from social media. [15] In academic research, social media detoxification is commonly referred to as the "non-use of social media", and falls under the umbrella of "Digital Detox", with a focus specifically on unplugging from social media.
A 2019 Pew Research Center study found that 69% of adults in the United States used Facebook, 73% used YouTube, and 37% used Instagram. [16] A 2012 study found that around 60% of Facebook users have made a conscious effort to voluntarily take a break from Facebook for a time period of several weeks or more. This has been referred to as "media refusal", [17] with non-users known as "social media rejectors" [18] who once used social media but have now voluntarily given it up for various reasons. [19]
A subset of a digital detox is a social media detox, in which an individual voluntarily keeps off of social media platforms. Additionally, motivations for performing only a subset of a digital detox could be attributed to the total time spent on social media platforms and the related psychological effects. The use of social media can lead to internet addiction and decrease productivity [16] [20] which is why celebrities such as Ed Sheeran and Kendall Jenner have undergone a social media detox and influenced others to do one as well. [21] Furthermore, comedian Ari Shaffir gained attention for refusing to use a smartphone after concerns about spending too much time on it, especially on social media. [22] According to statistics, many social media users visit their platforms multiple times per day, with 68% of Snapchat users and 50% of Facebook users doing so. [23] Based on a 2019 Pew Research Center study, 73% of adults in the United States use YouTube, 37% use Instagram and 69% use Facebook with around 60% of Facebook users making an effort to undergo a social media detoxification.
Most experts on the other hand agree that moderation is a much more effective method of detoxification than fully forgoing technology. [24] [25] [26] [27] One way of curbing overuse of digital devices is to allocate some of the uses of a smartphone to non-digital means. In 2019 Google announced a "paper phone" which can contain daily agendas, directions, and other uses so that people rely less on their smartphone. [24]
Apart from these, designated 'sacred spaces' wherein smartphone usage is strictly prohibited can help.
Recently, the tourism industry has found a niche market for 'digital detox travel packages' where tourists are disconnected from their Information and communications technology by traveling to remote areas. A study from University of Nottingham Ningbo China found that the biggest motivators for embarking on a digital detox holiday include mindfulness, technostress, relaxation, and self-expression. [28]
In the 2010s, technology and social media became an integral aspect of everyday life, and thus the decision to refrain from using technology or social media has become a conscious lifestyle choice [29] reflecting the desire for selective and reversible disconnection. [30] Undoubtedly, in the digital age, social media plays a vital role in building social capital, maintaining connections, [31] and managing impressions. [32] Scholars have argued for the importance of maintaining a certain level of distraction that social media can provide for a balanced state of body and mind, [33] and some scholars have even debated that social media is necessary and should not be completely cut out. [27] That being said, many scholars believe that the moderation of social media is essential, primarily due to social media platforms' goal of encouraging constant use with likes, notifications, and infinite scrolling. [34] Furthermore, to lessen the effects of these addictive features social media platforms such as Instagram have begun to explore alternative methods, such as making likes on a user's post invisible to the user, to shift the focus away from constant notifications and likes. [35]
Some companies have even launched movements against technology addiction. For example, in October 2019, Google and Special Projects (an award-winning design and invention studio based in London) released Paper Phone, a Google product consisting of a printed piece of paper folded into eighths that contains relevant information to your day much like a daily planner. [24] The motive behind the project was to provide the utility of a smartphone in a simplistic and less dynamic delivery. Moreover, other projects have focused on building second phones with less functionality, or putting human nature and design above technology. Some critics disagree with Google's approach to the digital detox phenomenon, however, and instead argue that harmony between technology use and well-being can be achieved. [24] Additionally, these critics suggest that the best way to digitally detox is to be mindful of the amount of time that is being spent on a digital device. [24]
In mass communication, digital media is any communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronic device, including digital data storage media and digital broadcasting. Digital is defined as any data represented by a series of digits, and media refers to methods of broadcasting or communicating this information. Together, digital media refers to mediums of digitized information broadcast through a screen and/or a speaker. This also includes text, audio, video, and graphics that are transmitted over the internet for viewing or listening to on the internet.
A smartphone is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps.
The ethics of technology is a sub-field of ethics addressing the ethical questions specific to the Technology Age, the transitional shift in society wherein personal computers and subsequent devices provide for the quick and easy transfer of information. Technology ethics is the application of ethical thinking to the growing concerns of technology as new technologies continue to rise in prominence.
In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures but moves the user's view across what is apparently a larger image that is not wholly seen. A common television and movie special effect is to scroll credits, while leaving the background stationary. Scrolling may take place completely without user intervention or, on an interactive device, be triggered by touchscreen or a keypress and continue without further intervention until a further user action, or be entirely controlled by input devices.
Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user's actions by presenting content such as text, moving image, animation, video and audio. Since its early conception, various forms of interactive media have emerged with impacts on educational and commercial markets. With the rise of decision-driven media, concerns surround the impacts of cybersecurity and societal distraction.
Cyberpsychology is a scientific inter-disciplinary domain that focuses on the psychological phenomena which emerge as a result of the human interaction with digital technology, particularly the Internet.
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation, sharing and aggregation of content, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. Social media refers to new forms of media that involve interactive participation. While challenges to the definition of social media arise due to the variety of stand-alone and built-in social media services currently available, there are some common features:
Nomophobia is a word for the fear of, or anxiety caused by, not having a working mobile phone. It has been considered a symptom or syndrome of problematic digital media use in mental health, the definitions of which are not standardized for technical and genetical reasons.
A virtual assistant (VA) is a software agent that can perform a range of tasks or services for a user based on user input such as commands or questions, including verbal ones. Such technologies often incorporate chatbot capabilities to simulate human conversation, such as via online chat, to facilitate interaction with their users. The interaction may be via text, graphical interface, or voice - as some virtual assistants are able to interpret human speech and respond via synthesized voices.
A mobile phone is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area, as opposed to a fixed-location phone. The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture and therefore mobile telephones are called cellphones in North America. In addition to telephony, digital mobile phones support a variety of other services, such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications, satellite access, business applications, payments, multimedia playback and streaming, digital photography, and video games. Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones ; mobile phones which offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones.
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers.
Mobile technology is the technology used for cellular communication. Mobile technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years. Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple two-way pager to being a mobile phone, GPS navigation device, an embedded web browser and instant messaging client, and a handheld gaming console. Many experts believe that the future of computer technology rests in mobile computing with wireless networking. Mobile computing by way of tablet computers is becoming more popular. Tablets are available on the 3G and 4G networks.
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with preapproved followers. Users can browse other users' content by tags and locations, view trending content, like photos, and follow other users to add their content to a personal feed. A Meta-operated image-centric social media platform, it is available on iOS, Android, Windows 10, and the web. Users can take photos and edit them using built-in filters and other tools, then share them on other social media platforms like Facebook. It supports 32 languages including English, Spanish, French, Korean, and Japanese.
Experts from many different fields have conducted research and held debates about how using social media affects mental health. Research suggests that mental health issues arising from social media use affect women more than men and vary according to the particular social media platform used, although it does affect every age and gender demographic in different ways. Psychological or behavioural dependence on social media platforms can result in significant negative functions in individuals' daily lives. Studies show there are several negative effects that social media can have on individuals' mental health and overall well-being. While researchers have attempted to examine why and how social media is problematic, they still struggle to develop evidence-based recommendations on how they would go about offering potential solutions to this issue. Because social media is constantly evolving, researchers also struggle with whether the disorder of problematic social media use would be considered a separate clinical entity or a manifestation of underlying psychiatric disorders. These disorders can be diagnosed when an individual engages in online content/conversations rather than pursuing other interests.
A digital omnivore is a person who uses multiple modalities (devices) to access the Internet and other media content in their daily life. As people increasingly own mobile devices, cross-platform multimedia consumption has continued to shape the digital landscape, both in terms of the type of media content they consume and how they consume it. As of 2021, at least half of all global digital traffic is generated by mobile devices.
Problematic smartphone use is psychological or behavioral dependence on cell phones. It is closely related to other forms of digital media overuse such as social media addiction or internet addiction disorder.
The commercialization of the Internet encompasses the creation and management of online services principally for financial gain. It typically involves the increasing monetization of network services and consumer products mediated through the varied use of Internet technologies. Common forms of Internet commercialization include e-commerce, electronic money, and advanced marketing techniques including personalized and targeted advertising. The effects of the commercialization of the Internet are controversial, with benefits that simplify daily life and repercussions that challenge personal freedoms, including surveillance capitalism and data tracking. This began with the National Science Foundation funding supercomputing center and then universities being able to develop supercomputer sites for research and academic purposes.
Social media in education is the use of social media to enhance education. Social media is "a group of Internet-based applications...that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content". It is also known as the read/write web. As time went on and technology evolved, social media has been an integral part of people's lives, including students, scholars, and teachers in the form of social media. However, social media is controversial because in addition to providing new means of connection, critics claim that it damages self-esteem, shortens attention spans, and increases mental health issues.
Meitu Inc. is a Chinese technology company established in 2008 and headquartered in Xiamen, Fujian. It makes smartphones and selfie apps. Meitu's photo-editing and sharing software for smartphones is popular in China and other Asian countries, attracting 456 million users who post more than 6 billion photos every month. As of October 31, 2016, Meitu's apps have been activated on over 1.1 billion unique devices worldwide. According to App Annie, Meitu has been repeatedly ranked as one of the top eight iOS non-game app developers globally from June 2014 through October 2016, together with global Internet giants such as Alibaba, Apple, Baidu, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Tencent. MeituPic, their top app, has 52 million active daily users and 270 million MAU. On December 15, 2016, Meitu went public on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The relationships between digital media use and mental health have been investigated by various researchers—predominantly psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and medical experts—especially since the mid-1990s, after the growth of the World Wide Web. A significant body of research has explored "overuse" phenomena, commonly known as "digital addictions", or "digital dependencies." These phenomena manifest differently in many societies and cultures. Some experts have investigated the benefits of moderate digital media use in various domains, including in mental health, and the treatment of mental health problems with novel technological solutions.