VIRGINIA — The new year is officially here and people all across the country are making resolutions to live a healthier lifestyle. But what about being digitally healthy?
According to a survey conducted by Statista, nearly 50% of people reported spending five to six hours on their phones per day. That's about one-third of an average person's waking hours.
"You'll go and look at one thing, and then you start looking at everything. Before you know it, you're there an hour and a half," said Lauren, a Norfolk resident who spends an average of 9 hours and 12 minutes on her phone per day.
If your weekly screen time average looks similar to Lauren's, don't beat yourself up. The reasoning behind this is actually neurological.
"Social media, phones, all of that, it's truly an addiction," said Veronica Lambert, a psychologist and professor at ECPI University. "Your brain works in the same way as being addicted to your electronics as it does if you're addicted to drugs."
Lambert says with every notification, whether that be an Instagram like or a text message, dopamine and serotonin are released in our brains.
"It gives you that feeling of happiness, those are our happy neurotransmitters," continued Lambert. "So then what happens is that your brain is sitting there and searching for more. It wants more."
According to the Digital Wellness Institute, after picking up your phone, you're 50% more likely to pick it up a second time within just two minutes.
"There's always so many things I need to look up, or a map, or food or restaurants, and Instagram," said Erin, a Virginia Beach school counselor who spends about three hours on her phone every day.
But constantly trying to get that fix can lead to dark consequences, especially for kids.
"Right now, most teens, there's a huge push and drive for likes and for follows," said John Landfair, a local law enforcement officer with significant experience in cybercrime.
Landfair says that lately there has been a rise in adults posing as kids online, oftentimes leading to cases of sextortion.
"[Predators] may befriend a kid on social media, but then they'll ask them to move to some other platform like Kik that maybe is a little bit more private," he explained. "Once they're on that different social media platform, then they may escalate their encounters with the kids to ask for maybe an inappropriate picture."
But adults aren't immune to this, and can sometimes find themselves in questionable situations like cyberstalking when being overactive on social media. Landfair says this can happen even on professional networking sites like LinkedIn.
"We're posting or tagging ourselves at certain geographic locations, we have to remember that we've now left a literal digital trail of where we've been and what we're doing," he explained. "We have to be really cautious about getting caught up in that desire to be liked, or that desire to be seen as an industry leader. That's where I think adults can become vulnerable.
Physical safety concerns aside, large amounts of screen time can have deep psychological impacts.
"Being on electronics too much does have an impact on depression, anxiety, and other disorders," explained Lambert.
The psychologist says this is especially true when chasing validation on social media.
"We all naturally want to be liked by everyone," said Lambert. "So it can be detrimental for some people. Especially for those who [social media] is where they get all of their serotonin and dopamine from. So if they're not getting it, then they can sit there and succumb to more depression and have more anxiety thinking nobody is liking them."
While we know pulling ourselves away from technology is easier said than done, there are some simple steps everyone can take to practice digital wellness in 2023.
First, experts recommend instead of sending a text message, take a few minutes to call or FaceTime someone.
"A simple phone call can help with your overall connection," said Lambert. "And that is something that we have lost throughout the pandemic because we're so quick to just text."
Additionally, consider downloading apps on your phone that track screen time. Representatives with the Digital Wellness Insitute recommend the app Opal.
And to protect your physical safety, start the new year with a social media cleanse.
"If you look through your [follower] list and you're like, 'I don't remember accepting that person as a friend or I don't know who that individual is that's following me on Instagram,' delete them," said Landfair. "Start fresh. Use this new year as an opportunity to start fresh in the social media world."
To better understand your relationship with technology, consider taking the Digital Wellness Institute's Digital Flourishing Survey.
