Put Your F**king Phone Away When You’re F**king | A Look into Smartphone Useage

Technology is amazing, we know that. We can do things we’ve never even considered before like tap a couple times on a mini computer to order a car driven by a stranger to pick us up at our house and take us somewhere which we pay for with a plastic card. Yeah, uber is great. We can swipe a bunch of times on that weird magic glass and find people to date. Tinder, it’s meh. Or even call a doctor (on demand) to tell us what’s wrong with us without even leaving the house. Seriously, all magical things. We’ve become so enamored with how many people like the photo we made our mom take of us seductively licking ice cream at the cool matcha restaurant down in SoHo that we are living more in that picture than we are in the moment. Did you even eat the ice cream or did your fitness app virtually slap it out of your hand?

Readily available technology is something we’re starting to get used to, and to no longer question with 10 years of the iPhone now behind us. The past decade has been a whirlwind of changes in the way we interact with each other, for better or worse. We are using them at all times, and actually admitting that we’re addicted.

• 37% of adults and 60% of teens admit they are highly addicted to their Smartphone
• 51% of adults and 65% of teens say they have used their Smartphone while socializing with others
• 23% of adults and 34% of teens have used their Smart phones at meal times
•  22% of adult and 47% of teens admitted using or answering their Smartphone while in the bathroom

We know that phones are affecting our psychology in ways that we haven’t had the chance to study in-depth just yet. The concept of “use it or lose it” is one of the older ones that you probably learned about in psych 101. Using your phone to increase brain function can “build the mental warehouse of information, and make the user a better communicator as well. It is also known that some video games can have a positive impact on people by strengthening their empathic tendencies. Social networking may build social bonds. Staying connected is easier than ever, and keeping the social bonds active allows reducing stress and promises social support” according to a study published in European Journal of Scientific Research.

But we also know that it can have some negative side effects as well. “Smartphone addiction is not just a buzzword, researchers have recognized habitual and compulsive communicating as a serious psychic problem. It is also established that obsession with our Smartphone is also responsible for significantly altering our brain‘s perception of the device. Most of the time the problem is not with the use of the Smartphone, but it comes when the device takes over a function that human brain is capable to perform perfectly. Smartphones can be considered mental elevators, taking the basic and useful functions of the brain. Another psychological impact is that users check their mobiles phones most of the time even with family, or even when with friends.”

It’s pretty bad…

• 58% of US smartphone users check their phones at least once in an hour.
• 50% they wouldn‘t even think of going to bed with out having their phones tucked under their pillows

We’re bringing our work, social lives, and everything we check constantly into the bedroom. Once a place of quiet, relaxation, and sex is now just another location (but a bit more comfortable) for us to be constantly checking in on anything and everything we can. By far the worst statistic we came across is that we’re not just bringing our phones into bed but we’re actually using them while doing something very, very intimate with another person, IRL.

One in five American adults between ages 18 and 34 now use their smartphones during sex.

Seriously, let’s just take a second to think about that. One in Five. 

And these people using their phones during sex aren’t using them to watch porn, look up moves, or take some sexy photos. They’re just swiping away. We. Are. Flabbergasted.

With this knowledge, we wanted to ask you (our amazing readers) to weigh in. What would you do if you partner whipped our their phone while you were on top? Would you accept that our iPhones are now just an extension of ourselves? Would you stop? 

And on the flip side- have you ever checked your phone DURING sex?? If so please tell us why!!!

 

Sources:

Przybylski A, Weinstein N. Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 2013.

Yangil Park, Jengchung V. Chen, (2007) “Acceptance and adoption of the innovative use of smartphone”, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 107 Issue: 9, pp.1349-1365