Smartphones, mental health & tech change for the better

Rising tide of mental health concerns and calls for action

Smartphones have transformed how we live – but the pervasive influence of both smartphones and social media has sparked growing concern about the effects they’re having on mental health.

Social media platforms, messaging apps, and even productivity tools are driving unprecedented levels of engagement—but many parents and young people are also feeling the strain on mental well-being. Using smartphones and social media in our daily lives, we’re exposed to an endless barrage of notifications, experience fear of missing out on what might be happening online when we’re not looking at our phone, or risk spending hours consuming digital content on apps that are designed to keep us hooked for as long as possible.

Social media companies are under fire for fostering environments that amplify anxiety, depression, and social comparison; and many mental health organizations, public officials, researchers, and parent groups are urging tech companies to take more responsibility and to create better solutions to address impacts and risks to our mental health.

That’s why we believe it’s time for The Better Phone Project. Check out more about the project here – if you haven’t already – and read on to find out why at HMD, we’re so passionate about working together to create tech that helps change for the better.

In this post we start with a few thoughts from the HMD team about why we’ve kicked off the Better Phone Project. We then move on to highlights from a recent online panel discussion that included expert researchers who have been looking into the impacts of social media on mental health, and a student who shared his firsthand experience growing up in today’s connected world.

Why it’s time to rethink tech & create a Better Phone:

Lars Silberbauer, CMO at HMD explains: “It's encouraging to see that the U.S. Surgeon General has called for all of us researchers, tech companies, parents, and regulators to really come together and understand how social media is impacting young people. So, we believe that this is really a huge societal issue. And we need to apply imagination, innovation, new ways of working, and then take very bold and very swift action. We need to listen and explore how we can create devices that can help our children, our young people, ourselves, to find a better balance for the future.”

So, what does this look like?

Adam Ferguson, Head of Insights, Propositions and Product Marketing at HMD explains further: “We are examining what a 'Better Phone' will look like and fully anticipate it will not be like anything else on the market. Through a live discussion, participants shared ideas and feedback about what they would like this new device to achieve.

We're very happy to rip up the design rule book on this. It can look like a phone. It could not look like a phone. It can have similar functionality to existing devices. It can have something completely different. We really are happy to even go right back to basics and design from scratch, it doesn't have to look or be anything like what is out there on the market at the moment.”

What does the research tell us about smartphones & how they impact our mental health?

Dr Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University has spent years researching the mental health of young people. She has found more and more teens are reporting feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, and in some cases a general lack of enjoyment in life – with the last two of these being classic indicators of clinical depression.

In our recent panel discussion, Dr Twenge shared: “You know, I had really never seen anything like it in my whole career that more teens were saying they felt lonely and left out, that they couldn't do anything right, and they didn't enjoy life. Clinical level depression doubled among teens in the US between 2011 and 2019.”

As it turns out, the end of 2012 is when the majority of people owned a smartphone reveals Dr Twenge: “It was the fastest adoption of any technology in human history. And of course, it’s not just the phone. It it’s what the phone is tempting to do, social media playing a key example of that.”

Dr Twenge adds, “And we know from lots of research that the more hours a day a teen spends on social media, the more likely it is he or she is depressed. In some of the largest and best design studies. Those effects are pretty large, often that the heavy users of social media are about twice as likely to be depressed as the non-users or light users.”

We also heard from Luisa Fassi, PhD student, at the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge. Luisa has also studied thousands of papers that look at social media use in relation to anxiety and depression and she adds: “Social comparison is really one key ingredient that seems to be related to more anxiety and depressive symptoms.”

The real dangers of unregulated social media: young minds

“Social media platforms were not designed for children, or even for teens. They were designed for adults,” Dr Twenge says. “It’s virtually unregulated and that makes it really difficult for parents to try to set reasonable limits for their kids.”

Jediael Yared, a sixth-form student from London, shared with us some of the issues he has seen his peers and siblings struggle with from social media apps and smartphones, such as loneliness and unrealistic comparisons to influencers or celebrities.

He explains that “social media does have a lot of pros, however, there are cons. There are a lot of things you can be exposed to online; loneliness, comparing yourselves to social media standards and comparing yourselves to the lives of celebrities, which is just simply unrealistic. It can really have a mental toll on individuals, especially at a younger age.”

Luisa also agreed that there are harmful dangers of social media, “In some aspects, it's a very empowering tool. It helps them to create connection, to explore their identity, but in other aspects they might feel pressure to conform. So, comparing yourself to others, exposure to thinness ideals, and idealized bodies, is particularly harmful for young girls. Then there comes the lack of self-regulation, so not feeling like they are in control of how much time they spend online.”

What do parents need to know & three steps to follow

Parents have so much to look out for when it comes to keeping their children safe, but vigilance around the online content children are exposed to and absorbing is key. Luisa explains:

Luisa continues: "When it comes to other content that is less clearly negative, we come into more of a grey zone. Here we really need more research and access to data, to better understand how these different types of content might be triggering for some young people, but not for others, and to build tools inside the platforms and outside the platforms, to make this platform safe by design, or to help groups that might be more at risk.”

From our first session there were three steps for parents to follow that were highlighted as important: #1) Know your children, #2) know their network and #3) know their devices. Luisa also highlighted: “Digital literacy is very important. If young people are using social media which usually they are, it's important for parents to understand how this platform works, how they're designed, and to start having conversations with young people, when possible, about whether they might be finding something distressing.”

Achieving balance with your smartphone: A Gen Z perspective

Jediael shared with us how he protects his mental wellbeing with a digital detox: "I feel like you need to have self-motivation and perseverance as an individual to take the first step in doing so. Around a year ago, I just had enough of my phone and social media, so I took my SIM card out. I put it into a Nokia brick, and I left my phone at the top of my cupboard just powered off completely dead."

Clear need for action and meaningful change

The ongoing debate over social media, smartphones and mental health underscores a need for meaningful action and change. While both social media and mobile technology have revolutionized the way we live, they also present new challenges that must be addressed. As the calls for action grow louder, tech companies have the opportunity to lead the way in creating tools that support, rather than hinder, mental wellbeing. By embracing this responsibility, they can help shape a future where technology enhances well-being, ensuring that our digital lives remain balanced and fulfilling.

If you’re interested in joining our upcoming Better Phone Project sessions or want to watch the recordings of our previous sessions, check out the Better Phone Project here and how you can get involved!