Digital devices have become extensions of ourselves. 9/10 times, they are the first thing we reach towards when we wake up and also put away when we finally close our eyes in the darkness.
The high prevalence of smartphones in Kenya has brought about with it as much good as there is harm to it. These days, walking around without a phone, let alone being unconnected to the internet is viewed as ‘old school’.
A culture of having no screens, once existing in the 20th century has been washed away in this generation. A fancy word, Nomophobia, is being thrown around to describe the fear of not having mobile phone connectivity.
Reportedly, a large percentage of the population get anxious when they are not on their phones. Are you one of them? The younger generation in Kenya have found themselves engulfed in the paradox of this digital world that both connects and isolates.
Our gadgets were once a symbol of innovation and progress, but gradually they have morphed into unseen shackles. There is a thin line that contrasts between engaging in the virtual realms productively and becoming a slave to a gadget.
Of course, nobody wants to become a slave to apps and cycles of notifications; this has turned into a love-hate relationship with many daily struggles. We can’t live with them, but yet we can’t seem to live without them.
Statistics have shown that 82% of Kenyans use social media as their primary news source, becoming one of the highest listed globally. At the start of 2024, there were 22.71 million internet users in Kenya, a number that only keeps rising annually.
The broader population has access to digital media, increasing the potential for digital addiction. Smartphone addiction isn’t just a catchy phrase that’s been coined by disgruntled parents.
It’s a real menace slowly sinking its claws and choking the life from society. But at what cost?
Take for example one Kenyan lady who lost her NGO accounting job over the social media craze. It had never occurred to her that a phone would be the end of her paycheck. What started as a fun spree of commenting on all matters interesting on Facebook, turned sour.
She had many topics she consistently engaged, from relationships, finances, health advices – all were at her fingertips thanks to her internet buddies.
Little by little, she began to lag behind at work when she was required to give regular reports. Sometimes, piles of untouched papers competed with her phone’s notification ring; you know what she chose.
“I wanted to stop, but I always felt I am missing out on something. Social media and blogs became something I had to check whenever I woke up,” she said in a past interview.
Waking up would always find her on the social media treadmill, warming her fingers by scrolling through what she missed overnight. Severally, she’d be late for work and would get severely reprimanded.
“I would stay in bed till 3 am, flipping through news pages and social media sites. I discovered Instagram stories and got sucked in…” the unwarranted behaviour became a habit until the last straw when she’d fail to deliver on her employer’s projects.
“The signs were there that I was going to be fired. I had many uncompleted reports, but I was addicted to the internet. I even tried switching off my phone, but I would rationalise that I will only stay for a few minutes,” she recalled.
Another Kenyan man was addicted to online gambling, which rendered him homeless eventually. He recalled often borrowing money from family, friends and apps to quench his gambling thirst.
“I was always running away from people I owed money. I left home when they started looking for me. There was a time I won Sh. 3 million but gambled it all within a few days.”
He says that at the time, he was convinced that true wealth was hidden within the crevices of the virtual world that comes with being on a smartphone.
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“I lost so many jobs. And the money I got, I believed I could multiply it online,” he reminisced.
Here’s the bottom line. Digital addiction doesn’t just rob us of our time and energy. It puts at stake our mental health, and relationships and in the long run, can run us bankrupt. So how do you assess if you have been addicted?
First of all, if you find yourself reaching out to your phone more than you reach for a glass of water, its time to call for a personal meeting. Secondly, do you feel a sense of panic when you leave your phone in a different room? If yes, call a spade a spade.
Some of the solutions you can practise to rehabilitate yourself include setting personal boundaries eg no phones in the bedroom or eating table, practising digital detox ie starting with a few hours per day, then increasing gradually, finding alternative activities and practicing mindfulness.
