Join AMA Detroit for a free webinar featuring Michael MercIer of Screen Education on smartphone addiction and Gen Z.
Register today to reserve your spot.
Smartphone addiction exploded into the national consciousness in 2017 with a torrent of media coverage. We learned that Silicon Valley intentionally designs apps to be super-addictive, that a huge percentage of kids have developed smartphone addiction, and that this is damaging them emotionally, cognitively, socially, and physically.
In response, a backlash against Silicon Valley and smartphone addiction began in 2018: institutional shareholders have demanded that Apple develop tools to help parents limit their kids’ screen time; advocacy groups have demanded that Facebook remove its new Messenger Kids app from the market; a new group of former Google and Facebook employees — the Center For Humane Technology — is challenging tech companies to make apps less addictive; and France announced it is banning smartphones at school next fall.
Anyone working in a marketing-related function, and who keeps abreast of demographic and cultural trends, must ask the following questions: What are the underlying dynamics of this backlash? How might it evolve over time? What broad cultural shifts might it bring? What role might the government, schools, the media, and corporations play? How does Gen-Z currently feel about their smartphones, and how will this backlash impact the attitudes and behavior of generation Z?
Michael Mercier will answer these questions based upon insights he has gained while monitoring this issue for the last 3 years, as well as by conducting his own research on smartphone addiction with members of Gen-Z.
Michael Mercier is President of Screen Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to mitigating the negative consequences of screen addiction through research, education, and consulting.
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