Smartphones encourage teen presence online
Once dominated by television and radio, smartphones now rule the free time among Generation Z
January 24, 2020
At any grouping of people, one thing is always present: cellphones. Whether they’re out to kill time in an uncomfortable family situation or to share information, the faint blue glow of the screen is hard to miss.
Mobile devices are quickly becoming the leisure device of choice. According to NPR, 84% of teenagers own their own smartphones.
For most, social media is the main purpose. One platform that became 2019’s trendiest app is TikTok, which consumed 68 billion hours of users’ time last year.
Senior Eli Hinerfeld said he spends about four and a half hours of his day on his phone, mostly spending time on social media apps, including a lot of time on TikTok.
“The appeal of TikTok for me is the endless entertainment that it provides,” Eli said. “I can consume hours of content without even knowing which definitely has its pros and it’s cons — definitely more of the latter.”
Before he used his phone quite as much, Eli filled the time through pursuing other hobbies.
“I definitely spent more time either playing video games or making music,” Eli said. “My screen time increased by almost an hour and a half per day after I got TikTok.”
Staying in touch with friends via messaging, games or social media are other popular uses. Sophomore Natalie Hultquist said she uses her phone four to five hours each day, mainly to communicate with her friends via Snapchat.
“With Snapchat I like that I can connect with many of my friends. It has this constant energy to it, where there is pretty much always someone on Snapchat, which can be a little exhausting if they’re only sending you plain face pics,” she said.
Natalie also connects with friends via common music interests on Spotify.
“As for Spotify, I love that I can organize my music, play the music I want to hear almost anytime, and I can share the music I listen to with my friends,” she said.
Phones help keep teens organized, too. Senior Charles Chen uses his phone for about 90 minutes daily, mostly to keep track of his activities.
“Most of the time it’s the Gmail app, WhatsApp for swim team stuff, Schoology or Reddit,” he said.
According to Statista, 42% of internet users between the age of 14 and 24 use Reddit, making it the sixth most popular website in the US ahead of sites like Netflix and EBay.
Similar to Eli, Natalie and Charles, sophomore Alina Susani uses her phone to keep in touch — both with her friends and the world around her.
Alina Susani said, “My phone helps with communication across the world, and I don’t think I could hold the relationships with my long distance friends the way I do without social media.”