While messaging apps and social media have claimed to keep people more connected to each other, a lot of younger users are discovering themselves exhausted from continuously receiving notifications, balancing several exchanges simultaneously, and carrying conversations that can last the whole day, and at times over the period of one week. Some referred to the experience as "text anxiety."
As indicated in a report by The Guardian, effects of this include delayed replies, forgetting to get back to contact entirely, and the need for phone breaks frequently.
A 2020 research published in the journal Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory showed that over-exposure to information could defeat the possibility of response by overloading users, opposite the analogies to a biologically-inspired viral transmission.
It makes sense that the so-called millennials are feeling tremendously overloaded. While the use of social media has increased among older adults, they are less likely to use multiple platforms or to highly engage in such, making them less vulnerable to technological burnout.
The 'Burnout' Generation
Studies have shown that older generations are using social media platforms to keep in touch with their family and loved ones and compensate for the missed physical interactions instead of branding themselves or searching for opportunities that result in less time and less management.
Some people are avoiding social media platforms totally due to technological drawbacks or fear of security breaches.On the other hand, millennials, those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, have been described as the "burnout generation."
It is a generation that has matured in a technical world, allowing for work, information, and communication to come after them everywhere they go.
Staying Online During the Pandemic
There's been an increase seen in ways to communicate since the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, people become overwhelmed. From meetings via Zoom and FaceTime dates to Slack that blurs the lines between casual chat and work, connecting online has grown so fast since 2019.
According to a Kantar report, there was a 61-percent increase in social media connection during the pandemic's first wave, and that was not just for the love of the platforms. Seventy-three percent of the users, regardless of the platform they use, expressed a negative sentiment over social media in the past year.
With rollouts of vaccinations, as well as the easing of pandemic precautions, this report said there is some relief of possibility, although people are feeling burned out from spending much of 2020 online.
The average American has about 47 unread text messages, more than 1,600 unopened emails. And yet, the average phone screen time for American adults is a little over four hours each day, a longer time than ever before.
More Time on Device Yet Less Time to Complete Conversations
The number suggests people are spending more time on their phones and still have a shorter time to complete a conversation. Now, they are faced with different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
These platforms encourage interaction through likes and shares. There are also instant messaging platforms such as Snapchat, Messenger, and WhatsApp, which encourage long conversation threads and group chats. There are also traditional communication forms such as text messaging and email.
The resulting number of conversations is almost unbelievable. The average person is checking his phone more than 260 times a day, a huge rise from 80 dimes daily average in 2016.
Frequent digital contact leaves people feeling overwhelmed and totally not able to participate. For example, ghosting a date, common dating apps, where it is the norm to engage in many conversations going at once, people would stop responding to acquaintances, friends, and loved ones.
Communication Boundaries
Associate professor of psychology Emily Balcetis from the New York University has recommended creating communication boundaries for the onslaught's management.
One of the recommendations is to invest in a traditional or the so-called old-school alarm clock to have by the bedside so that one can leave his phone charging in another room. Another recommendation is to have cut-off times for reading and sending emails.
Balcetis added, "switching off around bedtime hours" means an individual can give his brain a break before falling asleep and have "a gentler start of the day."
Related information about text anxiety is shown on Honestrox's YouTube video below:
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