Editorial: Not quite the end of the world

A big chunk of the information being parsed through has to do with the coronavirus, how to deal with it, and knowing what the current scenario is in any given city, state, or country.

There are reasons aplenty for indulging in such anxiety-inducing activities, as those affected by the lockdown would vouch for. Being confined to living rooms for almost six months now, with next to no contact with friends, in many cases; being cut off from the privilege of outings; being subjected to job losses and pay cuts, and above all, a complete breakaway from the social lives that we knew of. It’s fair to say that PC and smartphone screens have turned into our best friends. Way back in June, the findings of the Ericsson Mobility Report confirmed what we suspected. The screen usage of people in India had moved from three hours to a sizable five hours daily, and when connected via broadband, the usage jumped from 2.5 hours to 4.5 hours. A surge of over 20 per cent was witnessed in online consumption in the country, which has the record for the highest data consumption anywhere globally, as per 2019 figures. Just for comparison, the global average when it comes to data consumption is 7 GB per user per month. India’s consumption in the said period was 12 GB per user per month. And it’s expected to touch 25 GB per user per month in another five years.

So where are we going haywire amidst this consumption of bandwidth? Experts have likened people to information consumers who are now exposed to news that is being dispensed like digital candy 24/7. And information provides almost a similar kind of sweet rush that sugar provides - it’s an instant upper with no long-lasting nutritive properties. American neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley speaks about the diminishing returns of excessive news consumption and advocates a diet of sorts for how and when one could devote time to his or her screen and when would be a good time to unplug.

The arguments for capping screen time, especially in the backdrop of COVID-19 are many. Experts have pinpointed the additional quantum of stress and anxiety as harbingers of several non-communicable diseases or lifestyle conditions. As per a Healthline report, doomscrolling can have adverse impacts on the physical and mental wellness of individuals in the long term. Increasing levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which if uncontrolled, can lead to issues such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Internet and Communication Technology or ICT will be an invaluable and irreplaceable aid in our post-pandemic lives. But our screen time will need to come with riders for our good. For instance, we must adopt a back-to-school approach when it comes to our digital lives, as in setting up a time-table of sorts for our tasks at hand. Setting aside certain specific hours of the day to go through the news as well as social media must be the norm. If need be, one can opt for one of the numerous timer-based apps that can send out push notifications every time we breach the screen time barrier. More than anything, individuals must plan for productive or recreational distractions that can be interspersed throughout the day as well. Today, the responsibility of being purveyors of information no longer rests with news channels or media portals. Every individual today is a self-contained repository of information, of both the positive and negative sorts. And self-regulation and self-discipline might be the only breadcrumbs that can help us navigate the maze of this pandemic.