Is generation Z glued to technology?

‘It’s not
an addiction; it’s an extension of themselves’
By marilisaraccoglobal Global News

It’s hardly fair to point a finger at the young cohort of 13- to 23-year-olds known as
generation Z and accuse them of being “addicted” to their phones. After all, you’d be
hard-pressed to find an adult these days who isn’t constantly Googling during a
conversation or checking the news during dinner.

Yet, generation Z is often on the receiving end of criticism for the amount of time
they spend using technology. Some of this is fair — it’s estimated that they log
about 10 hours a day online (an informal Global News survey found that number to
be closer to six hours) and a whopping 96 per cent own a smartphone — but this is
less an “addiction” than it is a way of life, experts argue.

“Millennials and boomers are addicted to their phones. Generation Z simply hasn’t
known a time without the device,” says MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer at
Ypulse, a millennial and gen Z research and consulting agency based in New
York

“It’s not an addiction; it’s an extension of themselves. Are you addicted to your
right hand?”

Generation Z makes up roughly 17.6 per cent of Canada’s total population,

according to 2017 data from Statistics Canada. Although there is no established
start or end date, experts say gen Z-ers are born between 1995 and 2005, making
the youngest 13 and the oldest 23. Some argue the generation ends at ages 22
(1996) or 24 (1994). This is still a growing population, one that may not have had
traditional life experiences (jobs, mortgages, etc.) thrown at them. They are still
optimistic about what their future holds — and truly believe they can change it.

According to a non-scientific survey conducted by Global News, 356 self-proclaimed

gen Zers answered a variety of questions on topics like technology and mental health.
The survey found people in this age group typically described themselves as
everything from tech-savvy to game-changing, and one of the most obvious
characteristics was their connection to technology — a chunk of the generation
doesn’t know what life is like without it.

But the overarching concern is what all this technology is doing to their
interpersonal relationships. Surely, pundits argue, it’s stunting them socially.
They’re constantly connected and socially savvy
That isn’t necessarily the case, however. Since this generation is constantly
connected, they are actually interacting more with friends than generations before
them.

“Tech is seamlessly and vitally integrated into their friendships,” Bliss says. “To the
point where we see trends like live hangouts — live streaming one friend to another
— while doing mundane things like homework. They’re not even speaking.”

Indeed, in a panel interview conducted by Global News, many of the gen Z

participants reported that they’re constantly in conversation with their friends,
whether that’s in group chats on social media sites like Instagram or WhatsApp, or
on video platforms like FaceTime.

“Technology is less intentional and more intuitive for this generation, and their social
skills are morphing into a hybrid of technology and face-to-face contact,” says
John Richardson, an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa and head of
English at Ashbury College.

“There are rules gen Zers follow where one person is allowed to look at their phone
provided at least three others are engaged in conversation. It’s an intuitive
understanding that they can’t all be looking at their phones at once.”

What Richardson is referencing is what Sherry Turkle, a professor of social studies of

science and technology at MIT, calls the “rule of three.” This rule stipulates that in a
group of four or more people, as long as three are actively engaged in conversation,
one can look at their device without being perceived as rude or self-obsessed.

Turkle says that while this does eliminate any sense of faux pas in the action, the
result is light, superfluous conversation that lacks depth. If one feels they can
temporarily duck out to check their phone, surely the topic at hand can’t be that
engaging, the argument goes.

But the truth is, this may pertain more to millennials and gen Xers. In an op-ed for
the New York Times, Turkle referenced a 15-year-old girl who asked her father to
“stop Googling” for extra facts to add to their dinner conversation. “I want to talk to
you,” she told him.

This indicates that gen Zers, for all that they may be tethered to their phones, have a
sense of when it’s time to put them away.
‘They try to unplug’

Youngsters, it would seem, are nothing if not fickle, which means they can be full of
surprises. And in this sense, gen Zers deliver in spades when it comes to
unplugging.

“They see tech as vital and they love it, but they do get tech fatigue. They tell us
they try to unplug,” Bliss says.

Richardson echoes the sentiment and says that gen Z kids are more likely to do things
like put their phone in a drawer when they go to bed or block apps that might cause a
distraction.

What’s more, Richardson says, gen Zers are more inclined to read a physical book
versus millennials.

“My students are always on their devices, but if you ask a 16- or 18-year-old high
school student if they’d rather read a book on a device or paper, they’ll say on paper,
because they know they can get lost in the book more easily if it’s on paper,” he says.