The Smartphone Era: How Our Devices Have Rewired Society
In 2003, Stanford social scientist BJ Fogg published a remarkably prescient book titled Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. Fogg envisioned a future where portable electronic devices would serve as mobile phones, information portals, entertainment platforms, and personal organisers. He argued these devices could function as persuasive technology systems, capable of suggesting, encouraging, and rewarding behaviours in ways that could profoundly alter human psychology.
The Rise of Compulsive Usage
Four years later, Apple launched the first iPhone, and Fogg's predictions began to materialise with startling accuracy. Through his Behavior Design Boot Camps at Stanford University, which Wired magazine dubbed "a toll booth for entrepreneurs and product designers on their way to Facebook and Google," Fogg demonstrated how portable computers could indeed change what we think and do. Today, anxiety around screen time has become ubiquitous across all generations.
Recent Ofcom data reveals that nearly a quarter of UK children aged five to seven now own their own phone, with 38% using social media platforms. However, this phenomenon is not confined to younger demographics. Many adults find themselves equally ensnared by their devices. As author Will Storr notes, "I was shocked to find my daily average was over four hours: mostly before and after sleeping, spent on news websites and YouTube."
The Psychological Impact Debate
There remains significant academic debate regarding the effects of smartphones and social media applications on human wellbeing. Psychologists such as Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge argue that these technologies make children more anxious, fragile, and depressed while amplifying political polarisation. Conversely, researchers including Pete Etchells and Amy Orben maintain that evidence for these claims remains thin and inconclusive.
Nevertheless, personal experiences suggest the impact has been profound. Storr describes compulsive behaviours such as repeatedly reaching for an empty coat pocket when walking dogs without his phone, noting decreased book reading, diminished concentration during films and television shows, and increased YouTube consumption over traditional broadcasters like the BBC, ITV, or Channel 4.
Social Fragmentation and Tribal Conflict
Smartphones have fundamentally altered social dynamics by gamifying and monetising core aspects of human nature. These devices do not merely offer connection and status; they strategically withdraw these rewards to drive engagement. When users encounter outrage towards identity groups different from their own, it often feels like an attack on personal status, drawing them deeper into digital spaces to seek information or participate in counterattacks.
This dynamic reinforces tribal connections while fostering social competition. Likes, reposts, comments, and follower counts serve as unpredictable rewards, similar to slot machines, creating compulsive usage patterns. For deeply social animals, much social interaction now occurs within applications designed to manipulate through manufactured conflict, contributing to widespread fatigue, anger, and mutual suspicion.
The Changing Social Media Landscape
Growing awareness of these issues has prompted political action, with more than 60 Labour MPs recently urging the prime minister to follow Australia's example in prohibiting under-16s from using social media sites. Meanwhile, many users report diminishing satisfaction with major platforms.
Instagram, once a space for sharing photos with friends and colleagues, now forces users to watch endless short videos from uninteresting creators. Facebook has transformed into a stream of dreadful memes and inane arguments rather than genuine updates from family and friends. Twitter's evolution into X, alongside platforms like Bluesky, has created environments that many find less useful for professional promotion and more conducive to toxic behaviour.
The Future: AI and Wearable Technology
Emerging technologies present new concerns about psychological manipulation. Large language models like ChatGPT currently employ flattery to provide users with a sense of status, though this approach remains somewhat rudimentary. However, as these systems rapidly improve, their potential to hack human psychology grows more sophisticated.
The rumoured collaboration between Sam Altman and Jony Ive on a wearable AI device that would accompany users throughout the day, learning about them and offering constant reassurance, represents the next frontier in persuasive technology. Such devices could burrow deeply into human consciousness, creating relationships that feel essential and profound—the ultimate realisation of Fogg's vision for technologies that change what we think and do.
As we navigate this evolving digital landscape, the challenge remains: having lost so much of ourselves to smartphones, can we reclaim our attention, our social cohesion, and our psychological wellbeing?
