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from the everybody-is-looking-for-something dept.
Smartphone users will be disappointed if they expect their devices and social media to fill their need for purpose and meaning. In fact, it will probably do the opposite, researchers at Baylor and Campbell Universities found in a recently published study.
[...] The researchers' results provide a sociological link to the psychological studies that point to connections between digital devices and media use with feelings of loneliness, depression, unhappiness, suicidal ideation and other poor mental health outcomes.
"Human beings are seekers – we seek meaning in our relationships, our work, our faith, in all areas of social life," Pieper said. "As researchers, we were interested in the role that smartphones – and the media they give us instant access to – might be playing in meaning-seeking.
"We conclude that smartphone attachment...could be anomigenic, causing a breakdown in social values because of the unstructured and limitless options they provide for seeking meaning and purpose and inadvertently exacerbate feelings of despair while simultaneously promising to resolve them," Pieper said. "Seeking itself becomes the only meaningful activity, which is the basis of anomie and addiction."
[...] "Our research finds that meaning-seeking is associated with increased smartphone attachment – a feeling that you would panic if your phone stopped working," Nelson said. "Social media use is also correlated with increased feelings of attachment."
[...] A key finding of the study is that this feeling of attachment is highest for those who use social media less often. However, the research found that individuals seeking solace or connection through their phones in shorter spurts might exacerbate attachment.
"What is interesting is this association decreases for the heaviest of social media users," Pieper said. "While we don't know how this group uses social media, it might be that normalized use at the highest levels erases feelings of attachment for the individual – as we put it, it would be like saying one is attached to their eyes or lungs."
Journal Reference:
Justin J. Nelson and Christopher M. Pieper, "Maladies of Infinite Aspiration": Smartphones, Meaning-Seeking, and Anomigenesis, Sociological Perspectives, 2022. DOI: 10.1177/07311214221114296
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Booga1 on Monday October 10 2022, @07:51AM (6 children)
The phone is just a portal: a tool, an access point. The phone is just the IV line to the artery of the ego. The attachment to the phone is the same as the junkie to his fix. They've gotta get those "likes" or they'll go through withdrawal.
If you're seeking to find purpose and meaning from social media, the feedback comes from the people on the other side, not the device itself. If people are expecting to find the world fawning after their every meal on Instagram, the phone isn't the source of the disappointment when that fails to materialize.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Opportunist on Monday October 10 2022, @09:30AM (1 child)
It's better than kids. If your phone starts to get on your nerves, you can turn it off and even put it on the landfill. Try that with your kids and you won't hear the end of it.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday October 11 2022, @03:50PM
Man...dog people are always calling their pets "fur babies."
But try calling a kid a "skin baby" just once and suddenly they're all like "you're the worst pediatrician in this office!"
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Monday October 10 2022, @10:42AM (2 children)
Yes, of course.
Purpose - "It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others."
Meaning - "It takes genuine talent to see greatness in yourself despite your absence of genuine talent."
Satisfaction - Your search for "satisfaction" produced no results, other than yet another indication of your tendency towards failure... (As if you needed more.) [despair.com]
Now, get back to work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2022, @05:53PM (1 child)
> Your search for "satisfaction" produced no results
That's funny, mine came right back, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAzqSYQ9X9U&t=10s [youtube.com]
Bare chested Mick! Eat your heart out Putin...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2022, @06:17PM
You didn't search the correct place (the two above the "search" one are from the same site)
As for your Mick problem, try some Eric, cause she don't lie.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2022, @04:21PM
It could just be plain old boring consumerism dressed up in new tech.
Buy this shit, it'll make the hole in your heart/soul/psyche go away. Now with more buzzy features! Quick $10 cash back! Buy this plastic shit you dumb fucks, get the payment plan, insurance, 30-day free trial, and chomp down hard on the EasyPayPlus single click InstaDebt option. You ass is toast - you feel miserable? Try the QuickHealth'n'Wellness monthly plan.