You have probably heard people say that new generations are glued to their phones and social media networks or that they can’t be seen anywhere without their phones in their hands. In fact, studies have shown that people between the ages of 13 to 23, known as Generation Z-ers, spend over 10 hours per day browsing the internet and chatting with their friends via social media. Is this addiction we are speaking of or not? What kind of relationship do these people have with the technology they own?
Born into a technology-driven world
Generation Z is the first generation born into a completely technology-driven world and they adopt this lifestyle at a very early age. About 74% of them got their hands on a smartphone between the ages of 13 and 16, so it is only natural that Gen Z-ers seem to be “obsessed” with the online world. Social media and phones become a part of their lifestyle early in their lives and many of them cannot even imagine what it would be like to live, or even spend a day, without their phones. It is a way of communicating, learning, getting entertained and so on.
Gen Z-ers communicate more
Although many people believe that Gen Z-ers are addicted to technology, studies have shown that they have certain habits that can be considered better than the habits of other generations. Namely, Gen Z-ers communicate with other people much more than any other generation. This is because modern social media and messaging apps allow them to keep in touch all the time. They can communicate in various ways, whether it is in a form of group chats, comments about what they post, or simple private messages. For them, this is how they are expected to stay social. In general, society has turned to a technology-driven way of life and this is how Gen Z-ers tend to live. Like every other generation, they follow the way things happen in the world, so in a technology-driven world, people have technology-driven habits.
Gen Z-ers access knowledge more easily
Sometimes people may get annoyed because Gen Z-ers don’t seem to notice them at all because they have earbuds on or they are staring at their phones. However, not many people think about what Gen Z-ers may be looking at that moment. Modern technology provides easy access to a huge repository of information and knowledge, so whenever Gen Z-ers want to know something, they can click a few times and get the answer they need. This means that it is possible that the reason why they don’t notice you is that they are searching for some information which is really important to them. After all, technology is their way of surviving and expressing themselves in this world.
To sum up, saying that Generation Z-ers are addicted to technology is making a simplification. Technology is definitely inseparable from their lives so they cannot be blamed for learning how to live with it.
