‘Hyper Social’ people are more likely to be addicted to their phones

As smartphones evolve to be able to serve more functions, we inevitably find ourselves even more riveted to our devices. Truth is, we’re quite happily addicted to our smart devices at varying degrees already. That’s why we sometimes get an eyeful of extreme cases of individuals who are incapable of going through the day without checking for notifications every few moments. Incessant phone usage might come across as anti-social to some, But let’s examine the flip-side of crazy phone-usage. Just imagine how inconvenient it’s going to be to spend a day out at town without a phone. Simply trying to locate a payphone in the vicinity to contact anybody becomes tedious! And not to mention finding the answers to tough questions, a tad challenging, if you ask me…

“Truth is, we’re quite happily addicted to our smart devices at varying degrees already…”

Smartphones are kind of like a device which gives us superpowers and insta-knowledge. That’s probably why we’re so reluctant to put them down. Because putting it down means laying down a very useful tool which we’ve grown so accustomed to using for many things indeed. As trivial as our sweet, sweet attachments to smartphones may seem, they actually raise some intriguing questions. After all, apparent attachment to objects can be pretty illuminating wouldn’t you say? Especially when we discover the sentiments behind attachments.

“… putting it down means laying down a very useful tool… “

In this day and age, we are perpetually a tap away from a quick conversation with family or friends via social media, we share ideas with one another in group chats, and any silly or philosophical question can be answered under 10 seconds via Google! We know that our smartphones bring much delight to our lives. But, what does this tell us about ourselves, and which exact part of the mix is the addictive component?

Let’s start with the most fundamental things we do on our smartphones.

1. Surf social media
2. Make phone calls
3. Find answers
   

1. Surf Social Media
Since the desire to watch and monitor others, along with the desire to be acknowledged and monitored by others as well runs deep in our human psychology, social media becomes something which satisfy these needs. It simply means that we are a highly social species that gather constant input from our communities. The input in turns guides us to develop culturally appropriate behaviour. Behaviour which facilitates better integration in groups.

2. Make phone calls
The ability to establish communication with someone on the other side of the world may seem rather meagre at first glance by a society in the 21st century, but imagine a time where the only mode of communications was snail mail. The ability to connect via voice calls has allows us to keep in contact, form alliances and to learn from others around the globe.

3. Find answers
The act of finding answers allows us to solve problems, avert disasters and to innovate new ways of attaining goals. The ability to find answers via a search engine provides us with an instant mode of learning – leading to better contributions in social circles.

The more time spent on our phones, the more time is actually spent on social activities. So it turns out that excessive use of smartphones may actually not be because of anti-social behavior, but hyper-social behavior. Ironically… the contrary of popular belief.

Isn’t that food for thought?

And if you were to be marketing your business to anyone via any means, where else to really put your marketing dollars & sense in – other than mobile marketing. Reach out to your target audience via the object they are most attached to, mobile phones and reap the rewards instant targeted reach.