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The recent study done by the smartphone repair specialist, iFix showed just how much South Africans are dependent on their phones.
It revealed that two-thirds of South Africans admit to being addicted to their phones with 77% admitting that they often check their phone for no apparent reason.
The survey takes a not surprising, but interesting, turn when it revealed that a third of South Africans say that they miss their phones more than their partners and an astounding 68% look at their phones more often than they do at their significant other.
Let’s be honest, I can understand why many feel so affectionate towards their phone, as it offers a distraction, plus it makes communicating much easier than the sometimes overwhelming face-to-face interactions. 71% of South Africans prefer communicating through their phone above the meet and greet phase and 48% said that they only socialise with their phone.
Is it sad? Maybe. But are our phones expendable? I doubt it.
Why do you feel this way?
Our phones are everything to us, let’s face it, they’re our ticket to communicating, sharing, capturing and occupying our existence. Modernisation has made our world revolve around a little device we keep in our hands, and sometimes it’s the only thing we cling onto whenever we’re experiencing something life-changing.
Unless you’re over the age of 60 or you suffer from Luddism, or you have technophobia then you don’t have this problem, but our society is struggling to hold onto those traditional key values. Technology has changed, and so has the civilization surrounding it. We just need to be weary that we can still think and make our own decisions.
What is South Africa trying to do to fix this impossible problem?
iFix has identified with this problem and has gone into lengths to try and make sure our society does not rely too heavily on our technological devices. They have come up with ways to confront the ‘ugly’ side by repairing cracked screens or abused devices.
iFix has also led a campaign specifically to combat this issue by launching the world’s first mobile unit to test commonness of FOMO and PSA.
Here is a video on iFix and their movement to re-radiate nomophobia in South Africa:
