Is technology making us lonely? (with Dr Colman Noctor)

But first, I wanted to highlight some research out of the UK on passive use of technology.

So this came from Virgin Media O2 in the UK, and they did a year-long study which at its peak was researching 6,000 participants.

And this report that just came out says that people are spending maybe five years on their phones unintentionally.

So they're picking up their phones not to do anything, but just to pick up the phone and do phone, as I've heard some people phrase it.

So I think that's something that we really need to be thinking about.

It's something I've mentioned a lot on this podcast and on various media engagements.

So much of our use is unintentional, and I don't know how healthy that is, and when we talk about things like addiction, I think probably what we're talking about is the amount of passive use that we are engaging in, like not trying to do any specific thing, but just picking up phone and faffing about on phone.

So that research that came out today, they came up with some tools to help people who maybe are trying to change some of those habits, and you can take a test that will determine your digital intentionality score.

And the way that works is you essentially answer some questions on your own phone usage, and you can use the screen time information that most phones provide these days to answer those questions and have a guess, I suppose, at how much of that use is intentional or not.

And it'll give you a score and then some tips on how to maybe change your habits.

And, and they're not bad tips, I have to say.

So I got some advice saying that I should set intentions that if I'm gonna use my phone, I should say to myself what I'm picking up to do, and maybe even set a timer.

Say if I'm picking up the phone to do my daily puzzles, as we all know I do, I should say, "We'll do that for 30 minutes," and then move on and don't let the time suck eke into the whole rest of the day.

'Cause that's something that this research is trying to highlight, that whole idea that people are spending about five years [laughs] on their phones that's not doing anything or any kind of like thing that they set their mind to do.

It's a lot of your life, you know? But it equates to maybe about an hour and 26 minutes each day of unpurposeful use, so something to think about.

And strangely, and a bit randomly, Virgin Media O2 in the UK has also teamed up with Spice Girl Mel B to launch what they've called the O2 Scroll Stopper.

And [laughs] you can, through WhatsApp, schedule a call to receive a prerecorded message from Mel B motivating you to take a breather from your phone and enjoy some screen-free time.

You don't need Mel B to tell you that, I don't think.

So I'm gonna suggest it myself, and I'm not getting paid by Virgin Media or O2 to say this, but if you're listening to this on a device, maybe after this, spend a bit of time off device and touch grass, as the kids say.

But first, I wanted to highlight some research out of the UK on passive use of technology.

So this came from Virgin Media O2 in the UK, and they did a year-long study which at its peak was researching 6,000 participants.

And this report that just came out says that people are spending maybe five years on their phones unintentionally.

So they're picking up their phones not to do anything, but just to pick up the phone and do phone, as I've heard some people phrase it.

So I think that's something that we really need to be thinking about.

It's something I've mentioned a lot on this podcast and on various media engagements.

So much of our use is unintentional, and I don't know how healthy that is, and when we talk about things like addiction, I think probably what we're talking about is the amount of passive use that we are engaging in, like not trying to do any specific thing, but just picking up phone and faffing about on phone.

So that research that came out today, they came up with some tools to help people who maybe are trying to change some of those habits, and you can take a test that will determine your digital intentionality score.

And the way that works is you essentially answer some questions on your own phone usage, and you can use the screen time information that most phones provide these days to answer those questions and have a guess, I suppose, at how much of that use is intentional or not.

And it'll give you a score and then some tips on how to maybe change your habits.

And, and they're not bad tips, I have to say.

So I got some advice saying that I should set intentions that if I'm gonna use my phone, I should say to myself what I'm picking up to do, and maybe even set a timer.

Say if I'm picking up the phone to do my daily puzzles, as we all know I do, I should say, "We'll do that for 30 minutes," and then move on and don't let the time suck eke into the whole rest of the day.

'Cause that's something that this research is trying to highlight, that whole idea that people are spending about five years [laughs] on their phones that's not doing anything or any kind of like thing that they set their mind to do.

It's a lot of your life, you know? But it equates to maybe about an hour and 26 minutes each day of unpurposeful use, so something to think about.

And strangely, and a bit randomly, Virgin Media O2 in the UK has also teamed up with Spice Girl Mel B to launch what they've called the O2 Scroll Stopper.

And [laughs] you can, through WhatsApp, schedule a call to receive a prerecorded message from Mel B motivating you to take a breather from your phone and enjoy some screen-free time.

You don't need Mel B to tell you that, I don't think.

So I'm gonna suggest it myself, and I'm not getting paid by Virgin Media or O2 to say this, but if you're listening to this on a device, maybe after this, spend a bit of time off device and touch grass, as the kids say.