Evolution and consecuences of hyperconnectivity

Introduction

The history of the homo sapiens has evolved and it’s constantly changing, since its first appearance we’ve seen inventions that have marked history which couldn’t be told the same way without the apparition of the wheel, the lightbulb or the telephone. Although these inventions have been refined in order to conform a well-developed society, the human mind attempts to evolve adapting its abilities to newly learned knowledge.

In Klingberg’s words […] those who say the human tendency is to seek for more and more information, more data and more complexity, looking for situations with an information overload. In this sense, our brains […] develops new abilities, but loses others. This is due to the fact that the paths through which thoughts travel into the interior of the brain are constantly being modified.
Carr (2010, quoted in Sandroval – Almazán, 2011).

The risk caused by the obtainment of these new capacities means the loss of other abilities and, furthermore, from a psychosocial perspective we can observe other kind of consequences.

“We’ve got a focal cause of stress nowadays which is everything in relation to hyper-communication, with information overload, with the rate, with the immediacy we’re lacking a more human-like rhythm of pauses and moments of silence.” (Aubá 2016) In this article the psychological consequences of living within the human connectivity to unsuspected limits will be analysed in an objective manner. It’ll be observed as subject of study the evolution of two iconic products of the XXI century that have attained a larger connectivity among people such as the apparition of the first mobile phone and Facebook’s creation.

The study upon technostress has been analysed by multiple experts from diverse fields that have touched on the subject from different perspectives (Brod 1984; Chiappetta 2017; Rosen; Sears and Weil 1998, etc.) from which this investigation will be drawn from having in account technostress as a secondary effect of this study. The impact caused by the mobile phone will be analysed based on authors such as Farley and Nigel (2005); Vacas (2007); Solís and Castillo (2002) and the phenomenon of social media networks focusing on Facebook with the investigation the following authors (Castells; 2000, 2006; Hu et al., 2017; De La Hera, (2020). Finally, I’ll reflect upon the subjects at hand from a psychosocial perspective based on the investigation conducted.

“The times induced by technology, evolve too quickly, without adapting to people’s location, because developing a psychological pressure is characterized by frustration and discomfort” (Chiappetta, 2017).

This information overload has generated an impactful change in our society this has had repercussions upon human interaction in personal, as well as professional or academic settings.

Craig Brod (1984) in relation to the technological change claims: “the norm of our society is beginning to shift; in various years the quality and sensitivity might be seen as an aberration, meanwhile uniformity and efficiency might be considered as the standard.” (pp.1-2)

The search for efficiency and precision can lead to people experiencing various effects both positive and negative. On the bright side technologies have brought previously unknown information, it has also connected people on different sides on earth and generally, it has facilitated life on the daily, this makes you wonder whether or not humans were prepared to adapt to the hyper connected life or if it would require an extended period of adaptation for a better development in terms of their psychological conditions. At the same time, it must be estimated whether or not some realities have been sacrificed in exchange of this connected world. These new realities have adversely affected in terms of intimacy, the social pressure to interact, and the self-perception of the user as depicted in the previously mentioned studies; on the contrary, the interaction of global relationships has increased as well, facilitating the contact on relationships both personal and professional.

For a lot of people, the computer represents a barrier of opportunities both educational and professional, they see it as a threatening intruder in their lives. These people are known as “cyberphobes” or “technophobes”, they’re characterized by a response towards either real or imaginary interaction with technological products which can cause an augmentation of anxiety levels or trigger an internal dialogue which disparages their capabilities and lowers their confidence.
(Rosen, Sears, Weil, 1987 p.1).

Based on these affirmations we can deduce that not everyone feels satisfied by living in a hyper connected society and those who achieve a comfort within technology possess as well a distorted vision of reality from which not everyone is aware. Therefore, this article will inquire into the origin of two iconic products of the XXI century that have forever changed our society and the psychosocial consequences that impact us as individuals. The research will be centred around the mobile phone and social media networks, how they’ve evolved and the consequences of living in a hyper connected society.

The interest behind this study about evolution and the consequences of this phenomenon is due to an increase of technological addictions, the disassociations from reality and the apparition of secondary effects caused by the excess of connectivity.

The main objective with this research is to inquire which are the effects that cause hyper connectivity as well as raising awareness about digital health from a wide perspective.

Methodology

The methodology used in this investigation will be a bibliographic review with relevant information with the objective of forming a contrastable perception regarding how the excess of connectivity affects us as well as the evolution around iconic products which have caused these secondary effects. The criteria to keep in mind was the diversity from the different fields that encompass this subject, which can be neurobiology, psychology, sociology, history, experience design…; evaluated from a critical perspective as well as verifying some contrasted scientifical sources.

Another methodology that will be put to use is a semantic analysis regarding publicity of a wireless phone contrasted with the bibliographic references previously mentioned. Finally, a comparative investigation will be conducted between the studies of the following authors: Xiaomeng Hu, Andrew Kim, Nicholas Siwek, David Wilder (2017) and Susana Aspani, M. Sada and Raquel Shabot (2012). Also, it’ll be implemented the analysis by Daniel Aguilar Rodríguez and Elías Sais Hung (2010) which relates different sociological theories from recognized authors regarding Facebook’s network.

These studies have been selected in regards of their distance between publish dates in order to compare the evolution of the digital product users. Besides they appear in scientific magazines mostly of a psychological nature which present different visions of connectivity, both on mobile devices and on digital networks, with the criteria previously mentioned, they’ve been deemed the most fitting for this article.

Mobile phone apparition

In 1973 the first mobile phone was invented by Martin Cooper, in order to analyse the repercussion, it had on society at the time, it’s key to look into the historical context in which the event took place. Previous to this invention were the landline dated towards the end of the XIX century, which functioned by transforming electric impulses into human voices. Regarding the invention of wireless phones, it was key to develop the radio first as it was required an advance of the transmission of information via electromagnetic waves, that eventually would be replaced by satellite microwaves.

“From this event on, it was possible to create a wireless phone and although the first attempts dated in 1947 with sketches by D.H Ring for Bell Laboratories, it wouldn’t be until 1960 that big telecommunication companies would compete for the same objective of creating a mobile phone. The company that finally achieved it was Bell Laboratories which patent was approved in 1972, however, the first mobile phone to ever be demonstrated was by Motorola.” (Máxima, 2020) After the first mobile phone countless more surfaced and an industry emerged surrounding the concept of the wireless phone which is currently in use, although it’s overcrowding didn’t take place until the apparition of its second generation. However, it should be taken into account the chronological line on which this product will evolve. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Mobile phone’s evolution. Own elaboration with the aid of information (Julia Máxima,2020) (Julia Máxima, 2020)

On this chronology we can verify that in 1980 the first generation of mobile phones appears, interestingly enough in 1984 the concept of technostress is coined by Craig Brod. Is the mobile phone the culprit of these symptoms? Possibly it’d be a prediction on the behaviour observed during the first generation of mobile phones.

Objectively, the first wireless phone didn’t have a large impact on a social degree due to these devices being heavy and voluminous, furthermore, it’s reach was quite limited by its excessive price point. Functionally speaking, this model was only capable of receiving and forwarding both calls and text messages. We should bear in mind that it originated in the United States with the model Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, which was launched into the market in 1983 with the price point being around 4000 American dollars. (Ruiz, 2014).

In addition to this, the product didn’t arrive to all countries at the same time, therefore, the consequences and the user’s interaction with the product varies according to the arrival of this product. When the mobile phone reaches Spain in 1995, Americans already had a 12-year long trajectory of use with the product along with studies on their consequences. Although the first model launched on the market was economically inaccessible for all publics, in 1990 the product started to be overcrowded with the second generation of mobile phones, and with this the world began to have access to it from a hierarchical standpoint; (depending on the economic resources each individual was able to acquire this device quicker than most. This is observed in Spain’s example, which was introduced to the mobile phone on 1995 but only a 2% of the population had it).

Francisco Vacas (2007) affirmed that the characteristics of the technology of 1G systems augured a product capable of being overcrowded with brands such as Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson, which started to enlarge the market.

These companies saw potential on the mobile phone and invested on it in order to achieve further progress. As a result of this, in 1990 almost 20 million users carried these devices. This point of history will be highlighted on the study due to the fact that the beginning of the mobile phone overcrowding wasn’t a simultaneous success around the globe.

Contextualizing the 90s market, Nokia was the mobile phone referent competing with Motorola. These devices were characterized by their durable batteries that lasted up to 5 days as they didn’t include Internet connection, GPS or fast rate battery-consuming apps contrary to devices nowadays. Despite this there was a method put in place in order to access web pages within the 2G.

“WAP […] consisted of a protocol with the objective to reduce the weight of web pages we wanted to visit making the charging process lighter, not every web was compatible with this process. Even though we had at our disposal colours and icons, almost all navigation was conducted through text mode, via predefined menus that gave us access to determined parts of the Internet.” (Invertia, 2019).

Albeit this wasn’t the key element in the development of connectivity of this product, the ability to consult certain pages will be the one to be developed in a future prompting social media platforms to surface. This is due to the fact that not every web was compatible with these devices generating a tendency towards the text message though the access the predefined menus offered.

90s mobile phones not only allowed phone calls but, since 1992, SMS too, these were text messages with a limit of 160 characters. Due to this, it wasn’t possible to send lengthy texts but instead maintaining the concept of a quick, concise text, making it so the receptor wouldn’t need to worry about an incoming call, allowing a wider digital connectivity. Even though it wasn’t capable of sending images or videos on SMS, the second generation of mobile phones counted with an incorporated system by the name of Ir DA which was the only wireless technology capable of sharing information amongst devices during a prolonged waiting time.

Based on the characteristics that can be observed from this generation of mobile phones, we find a rather significant change as this prompted a more direct way of communication affecting the society at the time. The search for connectivity by means of this product increased due to communication amongst people not being limited to calls, instead, with the implementation of SMS, text messages became more impersonal, which later came to be an essential trait of social media communication.

Consequences of the mobile phone

“This shift affected the way in which people communicate, take part on education and make use of linguistics in the context of daily society. By mid-1990, the mobile phone became as small as possible at the time. Both the keyboard and screen limited any further reduction on size […] Furthermore, mobile phones exponentially raised on popularity as the prices mellowed and became more affordable for public consumption. By the end of the decade of 1990, 2G mobile phones were on sale for approximately $200” (Farley, 2005, pp.33). This change on lifestyle was reflected on the advertisements of the time as the way mobile phones were sold to the public was quite different from now. Jordan Smith (2006) published an ad in 1990 in which the product was presented as a practical device for drivers, businessmen with professional purposes as well as emergency cases, allowing a more direct way of communication with families.

The mobile phone, according to the ads at that time, was a tool for specific and precise instances. Although it’s included as an object to use while driving, which currently would be considered an unwise and reckless decision. Contrary to the advertisement previously mentioned, studies reveal data opposite to the original intention for the device, having a daily and even addictive use. There’s confusion surrounding the investigation of files from that time as Internet addiction was often blamed on the constant use of the different technological devices (computers and mobile devices), however nowadays we find studies that acknowledge the reality of phone addictions which couldn’t be determined earlier as it was examined from a psychosociological perspective.

“At the root of the first tentative conceptualizations of addiction (Billieux, J., Philippot, P., Schmid, C., Maurage, P., De Mol, J., and Van der Linden, M, 2015 cited in Marks, 1990) dramatically exploded in the last years, since every display of excessive online behaviour was enclosed under the label of ‘Internet Addiction’ (Billieux, J., et al., 2015 cited in Kuss, Griffiths, Karila and Billeux, 2014; Widyanto and Griffiths, 2006). One of the reasons behind this evolution is the fact that the perspective the investigation on addiction was carried through eventually shifted from a psychosocial perspective into a neurobiological perspective (Billieux J, et al., 2015 cited in Orford, 2001). In this context, many daily behaviours and leisure activities would be considered addictions nowadays.” (Billieux, -et al., 2015, pp. 461)

Aside from the addictions that this product generated because of its daily use, “in 1993 an American citizen condemned in a television program that the frequent use of mobile phones had caused his wife cerebral cancer.” (Solis, and Castillo, 2002). With this a dispute was prompted debating whether the radiation produced by these devices was prejudicial for animals and human beings, however to this day it hasn’t been determined if these produce changes to the tissue that are noxious.

Regarding the psychological consequences that have affected the rutinary use of this product, it can be determined that it did in fact trigger a phone addiction which incremented due to its own development and the rise of social media, which will present a larger connectivity between users, although this will have psychosocial consequences on them. It’s because of this reason that social changes surrounding mobile phones can’t be analysed due to them being inconclusive as the product barely appeared in a globalized market, the first social media platform was created which will provoke an alteration on the means to socialise, live and think about humanity.

Because of this, we can determine that the societal change in a psychological perspective isn’t only linked to the mobile phone but also to the access to social media.

The rise of social media platforms

In order to explain the origin of social media platforms it must be mentioned the arrival of the Internet as it impacted a variety of different civilizations, being a focal mean of communication between users in different locations, this interaction broke all barriers in terms of cultural and linguistic limitations.

“Its origin dates back to 1960, when the first prototype was carried through, ARPANET, funded by the United States Department of Defense […] It wasn’t until 1993 that investigators started the “network of networks” and in 1990 the world was introduced to the online network with the creation of the World Wide Web. The web had a major role on the popularization of the Internet and its development” (Andrews, 2019).

The origin of the Internet helps us understand the rising of social media due to the fact that they stand out for presenting a free space where every user had regulation free access (lack of moderators or opinion limitations). As shown on Figure 2, the beginning of social media took place in the early 2000s with them different platforms appeared reinforcing free speech and interconnectivity between users.

Figure 2. Evolution of social networks. Source: Marketing4eccomerce (2020)

“The first social media platform surfaced in 1997 under the name of SixDegrees and its function was to locate other members and create friend lists. It closed in 2001 due to the members being limited to “a friend of a friend” leaving no room for social expansion.” (De la Hera, 2020).

The challenge is to build a community, to start a flame. This is a service that can improve the efficiency of life. But, just like buying an address book, if names aren’t added it becomes useless. (Weinreich, 1997 cited by De La Hera, 2020)

In terms of a social media platform’s main interest isn’t just its performance, but the number of participants, in order to provide a higher number of interactions and benefits. SixDegrees had a very evident purpose, it was intended as a social media platform that would change people’s lives making interactions among contacts easier, with this objective, “it was based on the theory of the six levels of separation which consists in the idea that people can connect one another through a chain no longer than six persons” (Gutierrez, 2020). This was the beginning of social media which sought the connection between users forming a web of contacts. The issue with this first platform was needing an invitation to access it, as well as lacking images, making it less attractive than the later ones that rose in the competition.

"[…] los productores de la […] The producers of Internet’s technology were fundamentally the users, meaning that, there was a direct relation between production of technology on the innovators part, but, afterwards, a constant modification of apps and new developments at the hands of users took place, it’s a feedback process based around dynamism and the advancements of the Internet. (Castells, 2000, pp.3)

Social media platforms wouldn’t work without netizens, this is also due to the design of the platform itself given that if resulting unattractive to the public can easily lead to disengagement. Some of the first social media platforms introduced the concept of creating a personal profile with descriptions which would represent users, this was the foundation to generate a contact data base. Furthermore, this prompted community creation and business interest on establishing contact advertising themselves online.

As shown in Figure 3, Facebook is the digital platform with the highest number of members, currently counting with 2320 million users, this digital giant originated in 2004 at the hands of Mark Zuckerberg and his team. It was initially destined for students over at Harvard University, yet it reached Standford, Columbia and Yale. Thanks to its expansion in 2005 it was launched a new version for businesses and institutions; after a year, the universal version intended for users over 13 years old was introduced which only required a valid email address.

Figura 3. Facebook user graphics 2004 – 2017 Source: EITB (Euskal Irrati Telebista)

In 2007 it was published a version in Spanish, French and German with the translation of the platform at a free cost, this action was relevant as it prompted a further expansion of the digital program

“The first big milestone was hit by Facebook that same year: In August it reached 100 million active members. Since then, it gained 200 million users per year. Passed 1000 million the 4rth of October of 2012, barely two months after its introduction to the market, the biggest in history and 3 months before buying the picture social media platform “Instagram” for 1000 million dollars” (Sainz, 2014)..

Facebook’s main purpose is to build a network of contacts with whom you can share, express yourself, post videos or photos and even access online games that allow you to spend more hours hooked to its platform. The massive expansion of social networks took place thanks to the possibility of access on mobile devices, therefore, the growth of both these digital platforms and their accessibility on the cell phone are interconnected. The current ecosystem of digital platforms and applications are also related to each other as they share a specific use, José van Dijck (2019) divided social networks into subgroups being the following:

1. They prioritize interpersonal contact to forge professional, personal or geographic relationships that encourage the connection of weak ties, these are platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, ...
2. User-generated content is valued giving creative tools that give rise to cultural activity giving rise to amateur or professional content some examples are YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, GaregeBand, ...
3. Platforms that allow marketing and commercialization and its main objective is the exchange or sale of products some of them are Amazon, eBay, ...

4. Another category is gaming and entertainment sites with successful games such as The Sim Social, League of Legends, ...

The participation and constant feedback of the platform is what generates that individuals remain for a long time in these social networks and this way of expressing themselves digitally generates a feeling of freedom and community from their contacts. These interactions allow different functions that encourage the desire to stay, such as creating groups by affinity, uploading photos, videos, creating debates and communicating, as well as reconnecting with old friends and meeting others with similar tastes. This virtual identity shows a part of that person’s private life that can affect real life.

Psychosocial consequences of Facebook

Facebook is one of the great digital platforms of our times that manages to connect people from different geographical locations and diverse cultures. In the verification of the psychosocial consequences generated by this social network, two studies have been taken as a reference and an analysis where you can check the effects generated by one of the largest digital platforms worldwide.

The first of the studies analysed sought to break down the specific effects of Facebook in terms of satisfaction with social relationships outside the network and within it, in addition to taking into account the psychological well-being of users. Based on structural equation models where parameters such as intensity of use of this network, user satisfaction, ... were specified, 342 American university students were evaluated to observe and determine the psychological effects of this platform. Xiaomeng Hu, Andrew Kim, Nicholas Siwek, David Wilder (2017) conducted this study on the consequences of Facebook activity and concluded that there are two different types of effects:

* Direct effects. It was determined that the use of Facebook causes positive and negative effects on the psychological well-being of users. Its relationship is in the intensity of use, the greater the use of the platform generates direct positive effects on the satisfaction of social relationships with online profiles but causes negative effects on social relationships outside the application.
The impact among users when online was positive for single social relationships and for their psychological well-being, in contrast, single social relationship satisfaction is positive for perceived support, but negative for social interaction anxiety

* Indirect effects. Analyses emerged that the combined effects of online social network satisfaction, perceived social support, offline social relationship satisfaction, and social interaction anxiety yielded spillover effects of trust, safety, but also social anxiety and stress.

“Our results demonstrate that intensive Facebook use has direct and indirect benefits and detriments for users’ social functioning and psychological well-being through different routes. The specific effects of Facebook on users’ psychological well-being are context-dependent and mediated by perceived social support and social interaction anxiety.”.- Xiaomeng Hu, Andrew Kim, Nicholas Siwek, David Wilder (2017).

These effects make sense because an addiction is caused by an intense time of use and this produces a dissociation from your reality that allows you to opt for a virtual world where interactions are controlled by the user. On the other hand, it is the publication of your private life that generates conflicts for other profiles because exposing your life on social networks allows your contacts to judge or admire you according to their values and thoughts.

“[...] the creation of profiles that appear to be happy and problem-free people, influences the identity of the young person in a direct way creating an apparently perfect reality and causing emotional suffering due to the fact of conceiving an idealized situation that can come to underestimate the life of the individual when observing the profiles of others.” .- (Aspani, Sada, Shabot, 2012, pp 109)

The second study aims to know the influence of Facebook in the daily lives of young people, specifically, to measure attitudes, behaviours and uses. It interviewed 381 young people from the Ibero-american University in Mexico City of different ages and genders. This study focuses on the identity of the individual in Facebook relationships; Susana Aspani, M. Sada and Raquel Shabot (2012) gave through their study relevant results. The attitude towards Facebook and identity is created their identity through acts and functions that depend on the profession, the modern world and the use of Facebook according to the perspective of the interviewees. I reveal that, unlike men, women are the ones who think more about the future consequences of the publications, this is based on social harassment, bullying and unpleasant comments that happen when they make use of the platform. In addition to the distinctions of use, women use it as a communication tool, unlike men who usually use it to play games, view photos and profiles.

Young people in their 20s tend to have a more positive attitude towards Facebook and interpersonal relationships but people aged 23 and older are more aware of the responsibility of the possible risks of using the social network due to the lack of privacy of network policies.

The addiction to this network is seen that there is no difference between ages, and this is due to the fast way of adaptation of the social network to the user that generate feelings to be included or excluded as part of an event which generates joy or harm regardless of age.

The identity of the person is impacted by the time in the network due to the social construction and the way of relationship between the external and digital world. In these social networks there are roles delimited in each user by their participation in communities, in relation to their activities or interests, the profession they practice or study, their personality traits, organization in events and as a result, a social status imposed by other users of the virtual community.

Finally, addiction tends to be greater with the intrinsic need to access daily, neglecting their personal life outside networks. This not only occurs with Facebook but is a pattern that is repeated in the other social networks (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Intensity of use of social networks. Fuente. IAB (2020)

“Dependence on social networks is aggravated by the permanent use of these tools; it is estimated that we see the cell phone, at least, about 150 times a day, in a permanent interconnection between the real and the fictitious” (Martín Critikián, D. and Medina Núñez, M, 2021, pp. 59).

This statement is complemented by the time spent by users on social networks, according to the graph, each platform has an average intensity of use, and it will depend on age and gender how much time is spent on the social network. Although it is also true that the average intensity of use is added with the different social networks, i.e., a user who habitually uses WhatsApp, is likely to have other platforms where he spends a certain amount of time that is added to his time of use.

“[...] if we exclude the multipurpose WhatsApp as a social network, the most used ones are: Instagram, with 68% of users, YouTube, with almost 80% of users and Facebook, with 70% on average” (IAB, 2020) These social networks are popular at a national level, as each country has different preferences in terms of variety of platforms, but all of them have some similar aspects that manage to attract a multitude of users on a daily basis. Regarding the statistics of other countries, we can see with this graph that each country has a very different average usage, as the cell phone is used for more and more functions and for longer and longer periods of time. (Figure 5)

Figure 5. Internet usage time from mobile worldwide. Source:. Ditrendia with data from We are social. (2019)

 

According to figure 5, the global average time of use is 3 hours and 22 minutes, which means that in a week it would translate as almost 1 day of use dedicated to the cell phone. This data exceeds expert recommendations: “Between half an hour and an hour a day. That seems to be the right bar for young people’s mental health in terms of time spent using electronic devices” (Twenge, 2017 cited in BBC World 2018) Exceeding the recommended time of use spreads the consequences globally.

Figure 5. Internet usage time from mobile worldwide. Source:. Ditrendia with data from We are social. (2019)

These symptoms have also been theorized by several sociologist authors such as Michael Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Peter Bürger, Christa Bürger, ..., in the article published by Aguilar and Said (2010) where these sociological references were analysed and related to the case of Facebook focusing on the psychological field of identity and subjectivity of the individual in social networks.

This article determines that different behaviours were distinguished in digital life as in life outside the virtual world. This only confirms the previous data in terms of user identity itself, but in this journal, it specifies that when both parts of the same person converge two phenomena occur:

1º The first phenomenon that arises is that the individual comes into conflict with his virtual part and his real part because of the incongruence of his reality between what he shows and how he sees himself.

2º The second evidence is that the control of the subject in his real life can observe and manage his virtual part.” (Aguilar and Said, 2010).

On one hand, this is dangerous because it puts the user in internal conflict since, if his digital life is very different from his real life, he is showing a part of himself in digital life that does not correspond to reality and is influenced in his real life in the sense of expressing himself and behaving with others without feeling that he is the same. This causes internal conflicts because he has the need to be the person he shows on social networks, but with the risk of appearing a self-image that does not correspond to the real image. The second event is about the control of his life because he is the one who determines how he defines himself in social networks and can show himself as he wants others to see him. This relates to the previous study that points to a social status with defined roles where people by showing certain characteristics manage to have more followers and interactions that generate positive effects on the individual when he is on this series of platforms, on the other hand, when his life is outside the digital world the image, he has of himself or what he shows in social networks does not correspond to his real life. This leads to personal frustration, a more distorted image of reality, an anxiety of interactions and an addiction to both mobile and social networks.

The social construction of new forms of dominant space and time develops a meta-network that disconnects non-essential functions, subordinates social groups and devalues territories. [...] a social distance is created between this meta-network and the majority of individuals, activities and localities around the world (Castells, 2006, pp. 557).

In this quote we can see how there is a tendency to a social distancing by a more digital bet where we are connected through devices and applications, which causes the traditional social construction of borders, languages and cultures to break down in favour of a worldwide globalization.

This new social construction poses a distorted reality where the digital world predominates over the reality that has as a consequence some side effects produced by this hyperconnectivity, as is the case of “connection addictions”. If we look at statistical data, we can see in the graph an increase in the consumption of users addicted to mobile phones. Being 4 hours and 11 minutes the Spanish average of daily use of the phone, causing 81.7% of women and 72.9% of men say they could not live without this product, an average of 25.6% that is considered addicted to the mobile which is the same percentage of users who admit looking at the phone while driving.

[...] activity carried out with smartphones, the most widespread use is checking social networks (22.1%), ahead of other more traditional aspects such as making phone calls (15.8%) or managing email (12.7%). These figures show [...] a growing dependence on mobile devices that, in some cases, can lead to serious problems such as addiction. (Rastreator, 2020)

The addiction to the use of cell phones is increasing, being the most widespread use the consultation in social networks, being a higher percentage by the female public. It should be noted that according to the European Institute (2021) stated that up to 61% of respondents said that “looking at the phone is the first and last thing they do every day” and 3.7 million people “cannot go more than 1 hour without consulting it”.

These data are worrying because the pathological use of cell phones results in certain fears and concerns, the most relevant of which are: nomophobia (the fear of being left without a cell phone or Internet connection), textaphrenia (the apprehension that a text message has not arrived) and phantom vibrations (the feeling that the phone is vibrating when it is not).

According to La República (2021) stated how the global crash on October 4 of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram services caused for many users’ feelings of anxiety and distress, explaining these symptoms with nomophobia. These new disorders are related to the cell phone, however there are also other causes that are directly related to the use of the Internet.

“[...] there are differences between the psychopathological manifestations of problematic cell phone use and Internet use, with Internet use showing a greater profile of introversion and loneliness. Depression seems to be more consubstantial with Internet use, whereas anxiety seems to be more consubstantial with problematic cell phone use, specifically through text messaging. This indicates that the Internet responds to different patterns of psychological behaviour than cell phones.” De-Sola Gutiérrez, Rodríguez de Fonseca, and Rubio (2016).

Despite the difference in symptoms, they are directly related, due to the fact that the cell phone does not cease to be another device with the ability to connect you to the Internet. In the end, the symptoms mentioned do not cease to be an addiction to hyperconnectivity that manifest themselves in depressions, anxiety, introversion, loneliness....

During the pandemic these trends of social network use have increased compared to previous months. “Our need to be communicated in times of isolation, has led Spaniards to increase the time of use of their mobiles by 38%, growing especially the use of WhatsApp by 61%” (ditrendia, 2020).

This statement refers to the context of the pandemic boom, where many areas were digitized in order not to paralyze all activities that did not require presence. However, in a post-pandemic context, the situation has changed in some aspects.

According to Mario Cantalapiedra (2021) stated that there will be a greater interaction in traditional commerce in Europe due to the fact that most of its population is aging and reluctant to digital change. This is not only an impediment to the digitization of all media but also adds another difficulty which is the radical change of digitization in a relatively short time.

“This is the result of digital excess, which has been very monotonous and exhausting for the user. By necessity and survival mechanism, the human being seeks improvement and adaptation in the face of adversity, but once that need is calmed, many people may return to the initial state out of comfort or because they have not really internalized that new habit.”-(Enric Valls, 2021 quoted in Godoy 2021)

The radical change in routines brought about by the pandemic was an unprecedented situation and there was no progressive period for “digitalization” in all areas, so the user found it uncomfortable and exhausting to perform all their daily activities virtually. The desire to return to “normality” corresponds to the feeling of improvement in the pandemic situation, so the user who has been forced to digitize his environment, will look for the old routines he had in his daily life. On the other hand, those people who already had an addiction are likely to have increased with confinement, although it is hasty to say that there is an exponential increase in these consequences at the present time.

User experience design

Social media are in relation to the experience design as we’ve observed priorly with SixDegrees, if a platform isn’t designed with the objective to spend time on it, users will lose interest on staying and it will have repercussions on the employability due to a reduced number of members.

Although this increase on the number of users may seem beneficial, in reality, Snapchat’s growth has decreased […] ever since Instagram Stories were launched […] Instagram users now publish twice the amount of stories in comparison to Snapchat users.- (Osman, 2021)

Also, if a social media platform has more repercussion, members might switch over seeking the innovations that the more developed platforms offer. In this case, Instagram implemented a new function that further expanded the experience of their users.

UX Design’s main goal is to enhance products and services with the user in mind and the experience the product provides, henceforth, throughout investigation it can be determined how to better user experience.

"UX Design looks to develop the experience behind a product or service in any capacity or dimension, encouraging not only the client’s purchase, but incentivising their return as well; making their purchase an attractive and exceptional experience […]" Garzón (2021, quoted in EL UNIVERSAL, 2021)

This improvement allowed the possibility to connect with digital products as it promotes the client to be recurring, either to an app, a social media platform or any product with cybernetic connection. At the same time, these products require a constant development in order to adapt to trends and the public they’re intended for.

Sara Rius (2019) claimed based on data obtained from the IAB Spain research in 2018, different targets on social media both on gender and age. For example, Facebook is used at a 98% by users between the ages of 31 and 45, Instagram has a 68% of female users and 75% of these users are between the ages of 16 and 30 years old. This indicates that every social media platform adapts in order to appeal to their target audience, resulting attractive due to its format’s aesthetic, the usability, interaction…

“The design of an intuitive interface, easy to use, quick and with an attractive design, increases the chances of users using it, as well as developing a sense of loyalty with the software app.” (Balmaceda Castro, Salgado, Peralta, Sánchez, Fernández, Magaquian, & Fuentes, 2019).

Digital projects are based around UX Design parameters in order to achieve a better adaptability with the intended public, this being a booster regarding connectivity as any social media aims to keep users using its platform for as long as possible.

Jakob Nielsen (1999 cited by Alan Martínez, 2017) presents 10 principles of heuristic usability for the interface’s design of users such as visibility of the state of the system, correspondence between the system and the real world regarding its target audience, freedom and control of the users to personalize via certain actions, prevention of failures coherence and language standards, the use of colour and graphic elements, minimalization of information, flexibility and efficiency of use on the interface, aesthetic and minimalistic design, help via frequent questions and aid in the case of errors.

Focusing on the grounds of UX Design centred around interfaces, allows a larger sense of comfort for individuals to be in a social media platform and chose it over the rest of options which don’t provide the same value. These are subjective values, but platforms study the consumption trends regarding the target it directed towards in hopes of achieving a feeling of satisfaction with their service.

“The tendency must be understood as a condition emerging from multiple individual decisions produced by subject’s situations and their sociocultural context, as well as the circumstances that intervene in said decision making process” (Zacipa-Infante, 2018, pp.34).

Due to this digital platforms can be addictive as their innovations are updated based around trends the users create. This prompts reciprocity regarding the product’s upgrade, obtaining as a result aspects both positive and negative; in one hand, users have an space where to express themselves, feel free of control and spend time in the platform and in the other it causes an addiction that triggers psychological effects previously mentioned on the “psychosocial consequences of Facebook” section.

Conclusion

The evolution of the mobile phone originated from the user’s need for an immediate connectivity with their loved ones making it so they could maintain constant communication, alongside the creation of the Internet which led to a greater communication net between members. As it became more accessible, a larger number of people could acquire it, this provoked a massification of the product with a social behavioral change which resulted in addictions on users due to its daily use.

This prompted to an extent an irruption to the mobile phone and later to social media platforms, which caused effects both positive and negative in a psychological level: in one hand a feeling of community between users with similar interests or affinities could connect and meet, debate, express their thoughts and concerns was born,… but in the other, it provoked on members not only an emotional, cultural and ideologic comprehension but also the sensation of permanence towards certain beliefs or preexistent values which reaffirm them as individuals.

This leads to a need to identify and label oneself into a specific field based on profession, nationality, religion or cultural activities, which can result on the user’s digital persona to differ with the image they have of themselves in real life; this generates uneasiness when the time to meet others outside of social media comes. As well as prompting internal turmoil due to these frustrations resulting in anxiety, insecurities or depressions.

This addiction creates a dissociation from reality where the individual is unable to carry through social interactions outside the online space.
As a consequence of said hyperconnectivity, society was divided between people who reject with frustration the constant information overload and the exposure of private life online, and the ones seeking that connectivity as a means of expression, evasion and entertainment.

This hyperconnectivity on digital platforms is based directly on the design of user experience seeking a better experience to attract users for as long as possible. The consumption trends are indicators that contribute on the improvement of social media and are generated by those same users coming to a full circle where social media platforms become addictive and have repercussions both positive and negative on members.

The trends point towards a concern with the digital health problem where in the future will require a better approach that looks after the psychological and sociological wellbeing of mobile phone and social media addicts.