Are you addicted to your smartphone? 6 Minute English

Rob: Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob.

Catherine: And I'm Catherine.

Rob: So, Catherine, how long do you spend

on your smartphone?

Catherine: My smartphone? Not that long

really, only about 18 or 19 hours.

Rob: No, sorry, I meant in a day, not in a week.

Catherine: Er, that's what I meant too, Rob – a day.

Rob: Oh wow, so you’ve even got it right here...

Catherine: …yep, got it now, Rob. Yes, I

should tell you that I suffer from FOMO.

Rob: FOMO?

Catherine: FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out.

Something cool or interesting might be

happening somewhere, Rob, and I want

to be sure I catch it, so I have to keep

checking my phone, to make sure,

you know, I don't miss out on anything.

Rob: So we could call you a phubber…

Hello... I said, so you’re a phubber?

Someone who ignores other people

because you’d rather look at

your phone.

Catherine: Oh, yeah, that's right.

Rob: It sounds like you have a bit of a

problem there, Catherine. But you’re not

the only one. According to one recent

survey, half of teenagers in the USA feel

like they are addicted to their mobile

phones. If you are addicted

to something, you have a physical or

mental need to keep on doing it. You can’t

stop doing it. You often hear about people

being addicted to drugs or alcohol, but

you can be addicted to other things too, like

mobile phones. So, Catherine, do you think

you’re addicted to your phone? How long

could you go without it? Catherine?

Catherine!

Catherine: Sorry, Rob, yes, well I think if I

went more than a minute, I'd probably get

sort of sweaty palms and I think I'd start

feeling a bit panicky.

Rob: Oh dear! Well, if I can distract you just

for a few minutes, can we look at this topic

in more detail please? Let's start with a

quiz question first though. In what year

did the term ‘smartphone’ first appear in

print? Was it: a) 1995, b) 2000 or c) 2005.

What do you think?

Catherine: OK, you've got my full attention

now, Rob, and I think it’s 2000 but actually

can I just have a quick look on my phone

to check the answer?

Rob: No, no, that would be cheating – for

you – maybe not for the listeners.

Catherine: Spoilsport.

Rob: Right, Jean Twenge is a psychologist

who has written about the damage she

feels smartphones are doing to society.

She has written that smartphones have

probably led to an increase in mental

health problems for teenagers. We’re

going to hear from her now, speaking to

the BBC. What does she say is one of the

dangers of using our phones?

Jean Twenge: I think everybody’s had that

experience of reading their news feed too

much, compulsively checking your phone

if you’re waiting for a text or getting really

into social media then kind of, looking up

and realising that an hour has passed.

Rob: So what danger does she mention?

Catherine: Well, she said that we can get

so involved in our phones that we don’t

notice the time passing and when we

finally look up, we realise

that maybe an hour has gone.

And I must say, I find that to be true for

me, especially when I'm watching videos

online. They pull you in with more and

more videos and I’ve spent ages just

getting lost in video after video.

Rob: Well that's not a problem if you're

looking at our YouTube site of course,

there's lots to see there.

Catherine: Yes BBC Learning English, no

problem, you can watch as many as you like.

Rob: Well, she talks about checking our

phones compulsively. If you do something

compulsively you can’t really control it - it’s

a feature of being addicted to something,

you feel you have to do it again and again.

Some tech companies though are now

looking at building in timers to apps

which will warn us when we have spent

too long on them. Does Jean Twenge

think this will be a good idea?

Jean Twenge: It might mean that people

look at social media less frequently and

that they do what it really should be used

for, which is to keep in touch

with people but then put it away and go

see some of those people in person or

give them a phone call.

Rob: So, does she think it’s a good idea?

Catherine: Well, she doesn’t say so

directly, but we can guess from her

answer that she does, because

she says these timers will make people

spend more time in face-to-face

interaction, which a lot of people think

would be a good thing.

Rob: Yes, she said we should be using it

for keeping in touch with people - which

means contacting people, communicating

with them and also encouraging

us to do that communication in person. If

you do something in person then you

physically do it – you go somewhere

yourself or see someone yourself, you

don’t do it online or through your

smartphone, which nicely brings

us back to our quiz question. When was

the term smartphone first used in print -

1995, 2000 or 2005? What did you say,

Catherine?

Catherine: I think I said 2005, without

looking it up on my phone, Rob!

Rob: That's good to know but maybe

looking at your phone would have helped

because the answer was 1995. But well

done to anybody who did know that.

Catherine: Or well done to anyone who

looked it up on their phone and got the

right answer.

Rob: Mmm, right, before logging off let’s

review today’s vocabulary.

Catherine: OK, we had FOMO, an acronym

that means Fear Of Missing Out.

Something that I get quite a lot.

Rob: And that makes you also a phubber -

people who ignore the real people around

them because they are concentrating on

their phones.

Catherine: Yes, I do think I’m probably

addicted to my phone. I have a

psychological and physical need to have

it. My smartphone is my drug.

Rob: Wow, and you look at it

compulsively. You can’t stop looking at it,

you do it again and again, don't you?

Catherine: It's sadly true, Rob. To keep in

touch with someone is to contact them

and share your news regularly.

Rob: And if you do that yourself by

actually meeting them, then you are doing

it in person. And that brings us to the end

of today’s programme.

Don’t forget you can find us on the usual

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our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

Bye for now.

Catherine: Bye!