anexpatabroad

“An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator… these are NOT three separate devices! And we are calling it iPhone! Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone. And here it is.” Steve Jobs

I need a detox! I need to cleanse to reduce my addiction. I am an addict. Step one of curing an addiction is to admit that you have one in the first place. So therefore, here is my confession, I am addicted to my smartphone!

What’s required is a Digital Detox.  A therapy for all of us obsessed with the digital world. Digital Detox has made it into the online Oxford Dictionary. How do I know this? From reading about it on the Sky news app on my phone of course. This new phrase features alongside other new buzzwords that have made it into dictionary last month.

DIGITAL DETOX (Noun. Informal)  ‘a period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world:break free of your devices and go on a digital detox’ (source: Online Oxford Dictionary)

Apparently the signs of smartphone addiction are clear, if you check your phone before going to bed and again first thing in the morning you are a smartphone addict. Umm so that’s a solid YES to both counts. Add in checking the phone at regular interval throughout the day and the evidence is clear, my addiction is out of control. Before I have even got out of bed in the morning, I look at Facebook, Instagram, check my e-mails, messages and WhatsApp, read the news on my Sky and BBC news apps and even check the day’s weather.

Now I have started this blog, add checking the WordPress app too. I track my daily food intake on MyFitnessPal and Fitbit logs my every step and updates my phone. Any photos that I take go straight to my photo stream and my cloud and then appear as if by magic on my laptop without me lifting a finger, how marvellous is that. Seriously how did I ever function before I had an iPhone.

On the subject of photos that brings me to another new word added to the online Oxford Dictionary, ‘Selfie’. Everyone loves a selfie these days, Facebook and Instagram are full of them and I am as guilty as the next person, although to be honest I am not too fond of a close up photo these days!

SELFIE (Noun. Informal.Plural selfies) ‘a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website: occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself every day isn’t necessary’ (source: Online Oxford Dictionary)

I cannot watch a TV series or movie these days without checking my IMDb app for its rating or to discover what I have watched the actor/actress in before. What did I do before Shazam, the fabulous music app that tells me who the artist is, what song they are singing and saves it to my phone for later reference.