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!