Technology Addiction

Soft addictions reflect the age in which we live, an age of paradox. The world we live in facilitates both soft addictions and spiritual enlightenment. The opportunities for fulfillment and meaning are equaled by the opportunities for creatively wasting time. Our time is fraught with particular challenges from the sheer volume of what is available to buy, consume, utilize—and tempt us. Each new object, toy, or gadget—from PDA's, cell phones, TiVo, to the coolest technological tools—becomes something that we think we need or want, even though we didn't even know it existed or even have the desire for it before.

Many forces come to bear in our era that makes us particularly vulnerable to the allure of soft addictions. The cumulative effect of each of the following aspects of our society make soft addictions more difficult to address—and at the same time more urgent:

• Our increased dependence on technology

• Our spotlight on wealth, redefining the "good life" materially rather than by our own goodness

• The increase in disposable income

• Our need-for-the-new faddish society

• The proliferation of institutionalized gossip

• The emphasis on quick fixes rather than engaging in thoughtful solutions to complex problems.

We move faster and farther, feeling like we are going nowhere. We earn more, buy more, do more, and feel like we are living less. Time-saving devices are taken for granted as we move at an ever-quickening pace, complaining that we have no time. Bigger isn't necessarily better and more sometimes creates less—this is the paradox of our time. When we become trapped in this paradox and are content to do less with more, we fall prey to our soft addictions.

We possess greater opportunities to fulfill our spiritual hungers but are confronted with more distractions—a dazzling array of seemingly important pursuits that are leading to a rapid decrease in face-to-face and verbal communication. Because of all the books, workshops, and other vehicles devoted to the subject of spirituality, consciousness has been raised for many of us. Yet because of the proliferation of video games, cultural fixation on celebrity gossip, and "reality based" television shows, our consciousness has been similarly lowered.

Consider the tremendous power and potential of the Internet—the ability to democratize information, the possibilities of connectivity, the opportunity to discover values and appreciate diversity and demolish boundaries. The notion of global consciousness is utopian, but the Internet is a medium that can bring that dream closer to reality. Given all of this, it is staggering that one of the most frequent uses of the Internet is for visiting pornography sites.

Our challenge is to reconcile the paradox of more leading to less. This requires learning to distinguish between soft addictions and meaningful activities, between escapist entertainment and forums for self-discovery. We live in a time where the lines blur. We're vulnerable to style over substance, the appearance of energy rather than the reality. The sophistication of soft addictions and their marketing create the illusion that they're meaningful, enriching endeavors. We celebrate our "connectedness" as we spend hours buying and selling trivial objects on eBay. Just as significantly, the rising level of stress most of us are under makes soft addictions seem necessary. We feel we "need" to get away and watch television to escape the stress. Some outlets are inherently positive while others are limiting, but all can easily become vehicles of avoidance. To avoid being trapped, we must be aware of the paradoxical nature of our society and the challenges it presents.

The immense creativity and phenomenal technology that creates more addictive substances and temptations are the very same resources that can be used for unlimited good. Buckminster Fuller, the futurist and visionary, said that we are poised on a precipice of creating Utopia or Oblivion. The choice is ours—to resolve the paradox of our times and choose MORE, not less.

Statistics:

47% of online adults use social networking sites

73% of teens and young adults are a member of at least one social network

Email Makes you Dumber:

A study … found that British workers' IQ test scores drop temporarily by an average of 10 points when juggling phones, e-mails, and other electronic messages—more of an IQ drop than occurs after smoking marijuana or losing a night's sleep.

Children and Screen Time:

7 hours 38 minutes/day screen time per use

10 hours 45 minutes/day exposure

Mobile Phones and PDAs

Cellphone use by drivers caused around 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents over all in 2002 (8 years ago!)

Hands-free headsets did not eliminate the serious accident risk. The reason: a cellphone conversation itself, not just holding the phone, takes drivers' focus off the road.

Motorists talking on a phone are four times as likely to crash as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content.

Drivers using a hand-held device were at 1.3 times greater risk of a crash or near crash, and at 3 times the risk when dialing compared with other drivers.

Actively texting drivers diverted their gaze for 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds. At 55 mph, the distance traveled while looking away is equal to a football field.

Stream of communication – led to an increase in car accidents, pedestrian injuries, and a rapid decrease in face to face and verbal communication. People are sleeping with their BlackBerry, watching their screen while having sex to see if there are incoming messages, and checking right when they wake up (before going to the bathroom!).

1. 77% of people have admitted to text messaging while driving.

2. 79% of people have text messaged while using the bathroom.

3. 37% of people have sent a text message during graduation.

4. 18% of people have text messaged during a wedding.

5. 16% of people have sent a text message during a funeral.

6. 11% have sent a text message during sex!

7. 62% of people use text messaging to communicate with friends.

8. 55% of people use text messaging to communicate with significant others.

9. 19% use text messaging to communicate with colleagues.

10. Text messages are usually read within 15 minutes of being received and responded to within one hour.

Many couples report problems in their relationship, their parenting, and family interactions because of sports obsession. Sports addiction gets in the way of career success, intimacy, parenting, financial well being and life satisfaction.

Also, sports addictions are often connected to indulging in other soft addictions–overeating, internet surfing, compulsively checking statistics, watching too much TV, gambling, and drinking.

SOCIAL MEDIA

940 million social media users worldwide

12.2 billion – Videos viewed per month on YouTube in the US (November 2009)

182 – The number of online videos the average Internet user watches in a month (USA)

According to CTIA, in 2009 more than 1.5 trillion text messages were sent or received, almost 5 billion were sent per day

Facebook:

· More than 500 million active users

• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day

• People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

• The average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook

· There are more than 200 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

TEENAGERS AND HOURS ON MEDIA

Study, conducted by www.cybersentinel.co.uk,polled 1,000 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 about their online habits and Web site frequency.

Teens spend nearly 87 hours – more than 3 full days – per year watching soft-core porn online,according to the study.

More than 50 hours a year are spent learning about "boob jobs, bum lifts and collagen implants" on cosmetic-surgery sites.

Surveyed teens also spent about three hours each week on chat programs like AOL Instant Messenger and two per week on YouTube, the study found. Weight loss and diet sites took up about an hour and a half of the teenage week.

Kids 8-18 spend 7.5 hours/day using electronic devices (source?)

According to Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research -

1/3 of young women(18-34) check Facebook when they first get up, before using the toilet

1/5 of young women(18-34) check Facebook in the middle of the night

BOSS KEYS ON SITES

They have created a "Boss Key" that you use as a keyboard shortcut to quickly switch your screen at work so it looks like you are working on a spreadsheet rather than your online gaming or porn or fantasy football.

1. Internet & Technology related soft addictions: The deeper need that people often have is to truly connect with others. The best approach might be to add more personal contact with friends while you gradually cut back on the time you're spending on technology.