By Susan Hines-Brigger
Digital Addiction SimonSinek.com
“There’s nothing wrong with social media and cell phones. It’s the imbalance.”
—Simon Sinek
S
“ d d y a in a t a a p t o h is li b COURTESY OF SIMON SINEK INC
peaker Simon Sinek is perhaps best known for his 2009 TED talk about helping businesses discover the purpose of why they do what they do. But it was during a more intimate interview with Tom Bilyeu on the show Inside Quest that Sinek addressed a topic that touched on something relating to each of us. Because Sinek often works with companies, the focus of the interview was millennials in the workplace. One of the subjects he talked about was the generation’s use of cell phones and social media and how it has affected not only their work lives but their entire lives. Simon Sinek What he said, though, provided insights not only for the intended audience, but also to behaviors that speak to a pool of people well beyond just that generation. As evidence, in its first week, the video garnered over 80 million views and has now been viewed hundreds of millions of times. Sinek, an ethnographer (the detailed observation of people in their natural environments), points out that for all of us, social media is akin to a drug. And we’re addicted, he says. That is why we get a rush when we hear the ding of an incoming message or e-mail and we are constantly checking and obsessing over likes, views, and friends, he points out. “Engagement with social media and our cell phones releases a chemical called dopamine. That’s why when you get a text, it feels good. Dopamine is the exact same chemical that makes us feel good when we smoke, when we drink, and when we gamble. In other words, it’s highly, highly addictive,” says Sinek. “Like all addictions,” he adds, “in time it will destroy relationships, it will cost time, it will cost money, and it will make your life worse.” Sinek points out that people who have grown up with social media and cell phones have trouble forming deep, meaningful relationships and, in times of stress or trouble, will turn to social media instead of their friends. He also recounts different scenarios in which people turn to technology rather than each other, such as virtual conference rooms in place of in-person meetings or when a dinner companion leaves the table to go to the bathroom. Our first reaction, he says, is to grab our phone. He recommends that people do not keep or charge their phones by their beds. “If you wake up and check your phone before you say, ‘Good morning,’ to your girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse, you have an addiction.” Instead, he says, take your phone out of the bedroom and remove the temptation. As for those who use their phone as an alarm, Sinek has one thing to say: “Buy an alarm clock.” Videos by Sinek, including the one mentioned here, can be found on his website.
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