How we can unplug from this 21st century epidemic
Simon Fraser University
We spend our days looking at them,
talking to them, and touching them.
They increasingly consume our time,
attention and money. We are addicted to our digital devices -- or, more
precisely, the digital experiences they give us.
Now, an article published in
the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, by SFU Beedie professor
Leyland Pitt and his co-authors, analyzes the growing problem with digital
addiction and how marketers as well as app developers contribute to this
21st-century phenomenon. The researchers also made several public policy
recommendations to help with this problem.
According to Pitt, digital addiction
is linked to promoting obesity, sleeplessness, increased anxiety, decreased
productivity, and relationship issues. It is also a factor in physical dangers
related to distracted driving, and walking.
"Digital experiences, like social media, are linked to decreased productivity in the workplace and it's already costing the U.S. economy $997 billion," says Pitt. "Today, texting while driving is now six times more dangerous than drinking and driving, and it's costing the Canadian economy $25 billion."
He adds, "If you're checking a text for just five seconds while driving at 90 km/h, you've basically travelled the length of a football field blind-folded. That's incredibly dangerous and foolish when you put it into perspective."
The researchers say marketers and
app developers work together to develop experiences that create an insatiable
desire for users to keep returning to their apps. Companies achieve this by
using various tactics such as the freemium model, gamification and making their
app ubiquitous.
"It seems that digital
addiction is impacting young adolescents the most, but that's because they've
grown up with digital devices," says Pitt. "Addiction doesn't know
age. It can happen to anybody."
Leyland sat down with SFU News
recently to share his team's recommendations for how we can curtail this
growing epidemic through changes to public policy.
Product Design
L: I would like to see mandatory
labeling for apps. Although this would not entirely prevent addiction to
digital experiences, warning labels would likely prompt more conscious
decision- making on the part of consumers, and reduce the automaticity often
inherent to addiction.
Another strategy would be to mandate
natural "stopping points" in digital offerings. This would mean
endless games and infinite scrolls would be punctuated with natural breaks, in
the same way that books have chapters.
Advertising and Promotion
L: Disclosures could be included in
ads for digital products and services, similar to prescription drug ads in the
United States or those on food packaging. This could include explicit
information on how much time a user spends using an app or service, as well as
how much a company is making from a user's attention and information.
Place and Distribution
L: One prime area for public policy
intervention might be in the area of what the World Health Organization calls
"distracted walking." Distracted walking refers to accidents that
occur when citizens use their smartphones while walking in public places.
Rather than ban phones in these busy
areas, government intervention could shape behavior. For example, in many
German cities the street-crossing "walk" and "do not walk"
signals are duplicated at ground level so as to be in the line of sight of
people looking at their mobile devices.
Price and Cost
L: Digital products could disclose,
on average, what in-app purchases typically end up costing and how much time
consumers spend using these apps.
In addition, regulators could impose
taxes directly on the most addictive offerings, as they have done in the case
of tobacco products; alcohol; and, in some cases, prescription drugs.
Fast Facts:
* According to the Canadian
Automobile Association (CAA), 80 per cent of collisions and 65 per cent of near
crashes have some form of driver inattention as contributing factors.
* According to the CAA, driver
distraction is a factor in about 4 million motor vehicle crashes in North
America each year.
* According to CAA, the economic and
social consequence of road crashes in Canada is estimated to be $25 billion per
year, including direct and indirect cost, as well as pain and suffering.
* According to the Canadian Mental
Health Association (CMHA), similar neurological responses between compulsive
social network sites use and addiction to substances.
* The World Health Organization
recognizes gaming addiction as a disease.
* According to National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), texting and driving is six times
more dangerous than drinking and driving.
* According to the Overload Research
Group, distractions from digital experiences, like social media, in the work
place are responsible for the loss of a quarter of each employee and employer's
day. This costs the U.S. economy $997 billion each year.
* In China, mobile phone lanes have
been implemented in a number of large cities for pedestrian safety.