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Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? The Atlantic
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Third Strike
Member
Could be. I think it's mostly linked to the widespread availability of televisions in the Eighties, and possibly the emergence of home computers.
Wanda/Wander
Member
Symptom =/= Cause
Earthbound64
Banned
Puck Beaverton
Banned
I'm thankful I grew up right before this shit started popping off. I hate being addicted to my phone.
The only meaningful graph is the lonely one.
The only meaningful graph is the lonely one.
jasminlovesyoux
Banned
Smart phones are just what made the true evil more accessible. The internet.
Bounceounce
Member
Phones weren't an issue for me until my depression hit and I became reclusive, but I remember prior to that walking and trying to talk to friends while they were busy browsing Facebook and sharing memes with each other.
Whenever I do manage to get out now I don't use the phone though, hopefully I continue to change towards that.
Whenever I do manage to get out now I don't use the phone though, hopefully I continue to change towards that.
You know what else happened almost at the exact same time as that vertical black line? The financial crisis that wiped out innumerable middle class families' savings, cost thousands if not millions of parents their jobs, and handicapped entry into the labor market for an entire generation of young people.
But yeah, it's probably smartphones.
Amibguous Cad
Member
Um, there was kind of a major generation-defining event that happened one year after the iphone released...
But I guess massive unemployment followed by a decade of political instability isn't enough to explain anomie or depression.
But I guess massive unemployment followed by a decade of political instability isn't enough to explain anomie or depression.
Earthbound64
Banned
"they all recognize that it does more harm than good"?
Source for "it does more harm than good"?
Or is that just a nonsense assumption?
"I wish my son would put his damn phone down and go out and get his dick wet once in a while..."
The world sucks, the future is bleak, the smartphone is just the lens through which we're viewing all this.
The world sucks, the future is bleak, the smartphone is just the lens through which we're viewing all this.
Yeah, this article is full of itself.
The problem isn't the release of a touchscreen blackberry, it's an endless rolling news circus, a major depression, and cleb/gossip stuff being cranked up to 12 by themselves, and those who make money off it
Earthbound64
Banned
Seriously. I know the horrible job market when I graduated contributed to a whole bunch of the "highlighted issues" for me, and I didn't have a "smartphone."
Frankly, I would have been happier if I had a "smartphone." But I didn't have money for that.
johancruijff
Banned
i still have my chips on anime
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
By this time in millennial history, they were calling us Gen Y, Generation Me, and uh.... Generation 9/11 (Gonna guess that one never had a chance)
The iPhone itself feels marginal compared to social media and mobile devices in general. Also maybe that's my generation talking but I think the "i branding" was already kind of dated by the smartphone era and really belongs to the iMac and iPod (early 2000s stuff). Though maybe that's not how it will be known going forward as iPhone is clearly bigger than both.
I think it depends on your personality and how you grew up. Personally, I think the fact that I didn't have fast or persistent internet access as a kid was a blessing. Stuff like bullying, feelings of isolation, etc... they're all magnified by having persistent internet access. Smartphones didn't single-handedly cause anything, but they certainly helped accelerated trends along with extrinsic factors (today's young adults being stunted by parenting choices and bad finances, either from their own choices or job environments out of their hands.)
The Atlantic article is just another example of Betteridge's Law of Headlines striking again, but there's no doubt smartphones have changed things, and it's not all for the better.
Well I became more interested in the problem.
While I dont have any substantial evidence Its all empirical, all my friends feel like that and some of those that smoke, feel that the urge to check on the phone is similar.
I am not a scientist, just a student but, knowing we waste more time with this screen rather than studying, the subject just popped into my mind.
um...studies have been done.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Anime watching is probably a peak millennial activity, and if anything these graphs correlate with a decline in anime viewership.
digitalrelic
Banned
I can't believe that amount of people here that are denying that smartphones have a negative impact on our lives. Ya'll are crazy and in denial. This is a massive problem.
SocksAndShoes
Banned
What about the positive impact of smartphones though?
Doom and gloom articles like this that try to make sweeping generalizations about a generation or advancement in technology are often wrong. Things are very rarely this black or white.
Earthbound64
Banned
I was trying to think of a response to this that didn't come across as incredibly snide and condescending, and am failing at that...
Suffice to say - they're wrong.
ILoveMcChickens
Member
Some of the correlations drawn by the article are kinda... eh. They talk about how social media / smartphone usage correlates to higher rates of unhappiness. Is it not at all possible that unhappy people tend to be more withdrawn and spend more time browsing social media and on their phones versus social interactions?
As a teenager, I was pretty unhappy for a variety of reasons (home life, social life, etc...) and I withdrew into my computer and the internet. The computer usage didn't cause it, it was just a symptom.
As a teenager, I was pretty unhappy for a variety of reasons (home life, social life, etc...) and I withdrew into my computer and the internet. The computer usage didn't cause it, it was just a symptom.
Can't say I experienced my parents wanting me to be lonely, not dating, not driving, getting little sleep and feeling lonely. They never said anything to me about sex ha.
You are wrong. He verily clearly indicated that it was his own personal experience and you asked him to source that, and now you are saying his friend's personal opinions are wrong. Just a baffling use of internet.
Nydius
Member
And not just that: Preteens and teens who were most able to understand or be influenced by the effect of the 2008 economic crash also spent the previous 7 years being bombarded with constant media negativity and scares about potential terrorist attacks. Sometimes felt like we couldn't go a day without hearing some bullshit about the terrorism warning scale. E: Some of them saw older siblings, parents, or other family members march off to war either to not return or return mentally/physically injured for life.
So it's no wonder kids and teens who had their most formative critical thinking developmental years during the mid to late 2000s have a general fuck this shit attitude towards the way things used to be. They were constantly barraged with how that way of life was "under attack" or economically unsustainable.
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
Try as we may, there is no substitute for human interaction. Its not surprising that people who spend most of their time alone feel lonely. Companion robots will fix this.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
Correlation =/= Causation
A lot of those trends started well before the release of the Iphone, all the way back in the 70's for most, and really seem to kick into high gear around 2008 - 2010. What happened in 2008 - 2010?
The stock market crashed
2.6 million jobs lost in 2008 alone
9 million jobs lost inbetween 2008 and the beginning of 2010
And those not on a decline... only show changes years after the release of the Iphone.
Oh, and what's been happening since the 70's? Stagnating wages.
Garbage conclusions from a garbage article.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Can't wait for the Robo generation to really show us some fucked up human interaction graphs.
Tal Shiar Agent
Member
Yeah, let's not forget how much the Great Recession fucked up a generation.Um, there was kind of a major generation-defining event that happened one year after the iphone released...
But I guess massive unemployment followed by a decade of political instability isn't enough to explain anomie or depression.
The Great Depression made a generation that spoiled their children so completely when prosperity returned that it created the supremely narcissistic and entitled Baby Boomers who in turn fucked over everyone after. Wonder what the long term consequences on generation development the Great Recession will have on Millenials and the generation they spawn?
I came to post something very similar. This article is bad and makes ridiculous jumps.
I cannot count on both hands and feet how many times I was told that where I needed to be was either on the football field or home with my nose in a book. "You don't have time for fast girls or those thuggish friends of yours".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C42a5NlunEk
Clockwork5
Member
I'm no social scientist but from the line graphs these trends seemed to start 5 years prior to the introduction of the iPhone, with the exception of feeling lonely.
Rockandrollclown
lookwhatyou'vedone
Shits about to get pretty weird.
Pagers and non smartphones paved the way in changing how people act and interact, and smartphones took it WAY farther.
NESpowerhouse
Perhaps he's wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane.
I guess since I'm one of the few people on GAF within this demographic (born in 1996), I guess I should share my personal perspective on this. I mean, I was lonely long before I had a smartphone. Shit, I was the cool kid in elementary school. Then I turned into a nerdy hermit who spends his entire day hanging out on the internet and playing video games. Granted, a lot of this was also after we moved to a much more rural area with no neighbors to hang out with. I still had my circle of friends I talked to at school, but it was rare for me to actually hang out with them elsewhere because I didn't have a driver's license (still don't). It also didn't help that I was one of the only people around with predominantly nerdy interests. Way too many fucking rednecks. As a result, once I got home from school everyday, I was always online. Usually not posting much, but just browsing sites like YouTube and GAF. I had a lot of pity for myself at the time. Like why can't I get a girlfriend? Or why is everyone else going out having fun all the time, but I'm not? Again, I didn't even have a smartphone during this period of time. I got onr as a high school graduation gift from my parents. Smartphones have little to do with this whole situation. It has more to do with the ease of access to the internet and how more and more young people are partially judging their own self worth through what they see what others post online.
Oh yeah, we also happened to move right before the housing crisis, so that probably didn't help. As a result, was also difficult being around my parents at the time since they always seemed depressed and bitter towards the government and they economy. Also, into my teen years, it was difficult to find a job in the area (again, it was really rural). Didn't end up getting one till after I graduated.
Oh yeah, we also happened to move right before the housing crisis, so that probably didn't help. As a result, was also difficult being around my parents at the time since they always seemed depressed and bitter towards the government and they economy. Also, into my teen years, it was difficult to find a job in the area (again, it was really rural). Didn't end up getting one till after I graduated.
Earthbound64
Banned
My assumption was that the implication was in connection to the article that started the thread we are posting in and discussing, as opposed to a one-off comment with no connection to the article.
Beyond that, just because they personally state it's "more harm than good" doesn't mean that's actually true, even for them.
If the goal of the post had been purely to share some people's opinions on things, with no connection to the thread, the article posted in the thread, or the discussion taking place, then sure, that's fine.
I was assuming there was a wider point to it than just that, though.
Indeed.
Post #54.
So the chart shows 12th graders go out without their parents 2.7 times a week in 2017 to 2.3 now- how on Earth is that a massive shift? Could be anything, not sure how blaming smartphones is the issue when social media, internet use, streaming etc has all exploded too, let alone those parents funding said child excursions have less money in their pocket.
As a non-Us gaffer exactly how old is a 12th grader?
As a non-Us gaffer exactly how old is a 12th grader?
Earthbound64
Banned
18-ish.
iGeneration has been a term since before the smartphone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhY5k_5WPCA
True Savior
Member
It's the network-oriented technology that probably did change how we interact in-person.
digitalrelic
Banned
All from the article:
Quit fooling yourself. The data is there and it will only become more and more clear the more smartphones and social media consumes our lives.
Seems like another 'man yells at clouds' article about millenials. The internet was no different than television no different than radio no different than books and printed text etc.
People used to say the same about the kids of the 80's and MTV and television and Nintendo etc. As society evolves, new methods of entertainment and communication are invented that affect how ee live our lives. What will we be saying in 20 years when most people are just sitting around in virtual worlds with VR and not even moving? How much were people sleeping after the 1950's when television became widespread and little timmy watching until all hours of the night?