Sir, – When it comes to technology, we’ve been groomed to believe that more is better. More apps, more features, more notifications.
But how many Trump memes and fake news do we have to scroll through before reaching something of use? Is it time to chuck the smartphone and find a tool that is focused on one thing: communication?
Is it time for our kids to do the same?
In a recent survey of more than 1,000 Gen Z adults (ages 18-27), the author of Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt, asked young adults about their social media use and specifically if they wished various platforms were “never invented”.
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The answer was disturbing but not surprising, with between a third and half of all respondents wishing social media platforms were never invented. This includes Instagram (34 per cent), Facebook (37 per cent), Snapchat (43 per cent) and the most regretted platforms of all: TikTok (47 per cent) and X (50 per cent).
Haidt reports that almost half of respondents said that they “would not allow” their child to have a smartphone “before reaching high school”; and more than half support the idea that parents should restrict their child’s access to smartphones before that age.
More than a third support social media bans for those under the age of 16 and the majority support a law requiring social media companies to develop a child-safe option for users under 18.
While social media companies and governments consider the next regulatory steps, there is a case to be made for parents taking matters into their own hands and ditching smartphones for themselves and for their kids.
Dumb phones that lack much of the browsing, social media, algorithm-fed notifications and “smart” features that keep us transfixed with fake news, memes, warnings, alerts and rolling news stories that fill our time with noise, can allow us to stay in touch without being consumed. – Yours, etc,
CATHERINE CONLON,
Ballintemple,
Cork.