My parents are crazy about "scrolling through their phones". Is there any good way to prevent them from getting addicted?

Elderly people's addiction to mobile phones, especially short videos, has become a pain point for some families. In many families with children, one of the family conflicts is that the elderly are addicted to short videos, and as a result, the grandchildren are also affected and watch them on their mobile phones every day...

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As a small "insider" who has worked on a short video platform, I am often asked by friends whether there is any reasonable and effective way to control parents' addiction to mobile phones?

Yes, but before I start to introduce these methods, I would like to point out that studies have shown that for the elderly, moderate use of digital products (including short video platforms) can play a positive role in physical and mental health. **We need to intervene in those situations where people are too addicted to it and their normal lives are affected. **Next, let's talk about how to help the elderly get rid of their addiction to short videos.

Method 1: Turn off notifications

I believe everyone has had this experience: when you see a red dot on the APP icon (or a red dot with a number on it), you feel uncomfortable and can only feel at ease after clicking it. The same is true for the elderly.

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To understand the impact of red dots, notifications, and alert sounds in mobile apps on our dependence on mobile phones, we can refer to Pavlov's classical conditioning experiment, which was a study conducted by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov in the 1900s to explore the learning and conditioning mechanisms of animals and humans.

Pavlov was originally studying the digestive system of dogs, but he noticed that the dogs began to salivate when they heard the footsteps of their assistant before they saw the food. He designed the experiment to ring a bell before each feeding, and the dogs gradually learned to associate the bell with food. Eventually, the dogs would salivate when they heard the bell, even when there was no food. This is conditioning - the dog associates the bell with the upcoming food.

Now think about it, are the notification sounds and red dots in your phone like the ringtones in Pavlov's experiment? We may not need to click to view the details, but just seeing the notification makes us subconsciously curious or even anxious.

In fact, the design of mobile app notifications is very similar to Pavlov's experimental principles. They use prompt sounds and visual markers to make users form habitual responses, thereby increasing usage time. Whenever we receive a notification, the brain releases dopamine, which brings pleasure or satisfaction. This reward mechanism prompts us to continue clicking, opening, and participating. For example, when we receive a like or comment notification, we feel recognized, which strengthens our response to the notification.

Just like Pavlov's dog looked forward to food, our brains also look forward to the satisfaction brought by social feedback or new information. Do you feel that sometimes you are unconsciously "led" by these notifications?

Elderly people often don’t understand the various system settings and function settings on their phones, so it’s time to help your parents block out unimportant interference information on their phones, especially by turning off the sound.

Method 2: Close Recommendation

Most people can't stop watching short videos, which is closely related to the accurate guessing and recommendation of the algorithm. According to the "Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Internet Information Service Algorithm Recommendation Management Regulations" of the State Council, algorithm recommendation service providers should provide users with options that are not targeted at their personal characteristics, or provide users with a convenient option to turn off algorithm recommendation services.

Therefore, most of the mainstream apps in China that include recommendation algorithm information flows have launched a “turn off personalized recommendations” function.

However, the entrance to this option is usually deep in the menu, not easy to find, and our parents usually don't know it. So, here we say quietly, if it really doesn't work, you can help your parents turn off the "personalized recommendation" of short videos, which will immediately reduce the usage time and make people put down their phones unconsciously. I'll show you the way, it's usually in the three-level menu of "Settings-Personal Information Management-Personalized Content Recommendation", look for it more, it must be there.

However, this method is only a temporary solution, because every once in a while, the App may pop up a reminder asking the user whether to turn on personalized recommendations. Fortunately, this method is still very helpful for short-term desensitization and gradually reducing dependence on short videos. (The author has personally tested it and it works, why don’t you try it too)

Method 3: Time limit

The mobile phone system settings and the short video app settings both have functions for controlling the software usage time.

For example, in a short video, I set it up like this, reminding you of the usage time every half an hour, and you can't use it after the total usage time exceeds two hours a day. You can adjust the duration here according to your habits.

As for setting the entrance, taking a common short video APP as an example, it is on the third-level menu page of "More Functions - Use Management Assistant - Time Management".

If parents are too addicted to watching short videos and spend several hours a day watching them, it will be difficult for them to stop watching them if we reduce it to the lowest level all at once, and it may even cause an emotional backlash from their parents - be prepared to face a storm, at the very least they may smash their phones, at worst they may face the charge of being "unfilial".

Therefore, we set up a "gradient reduction" plan that is not noticed by anyone. For example, every three days, the usage time limit is reduced by 15 minutes. In this way, users will not have too much psychological burden, nor will they cause negative emotions such as anxiety due to the sudden interruption of habits.

Method 4: Rely on grandchildren

Social research also shows that many elderly people actively limit their Internet use because they are worried that their Internet use will have a negative impact on their grandchildren, such as interfering with their children's studies. Therefore, compared with the advice of their direct children, the supervision of grandchildren is often more effective in encouraging them to prevent or solve their own Internet addiction. Therefore, sometimes the advice of children is not as good as the pampering of grandchildren.

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We need to explain to parents that if adults in a family look at their phones all day long, the children's concentration on study will be seriously affected. The problem of mobile phone addiction among teenagers is also very prominent, and the family atmosphere must be addressed from the "root". With this said, parents will exercise self-control to a certain extent out of their "love for their grandchildren".

In addition, if the color can be adjusted in the system of our parents' mobile phone, you can try to adjust the color saturation, brightness and other parameters appropriately. On the one hand, it can reduce visual fatigue, and on the other hand, it can make the things in the mobile phone appear less "fancy", reduce visual stimulation, and reduce the degree of addiction to a certain extent.

Finally, I have to emphasize again that in many cases, the reason why parents are addicted to mobile phones is not because their willpower is weak or the "platform is too cunning". They just want to relieve loneliness and boredom. Therefore , the most fundamental and effective way is to increase the time you spend with your parents and take them outdoors more often. Outdoor activities can also reduce the time the elderly spend on their phones. After all, our parents are frugal and live frugally. The Wi-Fi at home has unlimited traffic and you can use it as much as you want, but mobile network traffic outside is not free.

When you have time, you can also talk to your parents about the principles behind modern technology. "The purpose of these platforms is to make you watch longer so that they can make more advertising money. Every time you watch a video, the platform can earn advertising fees." "You think it is leisure, but in fact it is a waste of time. When watching short videos, time passes very quickly. It feels like leisure and relaxation, but in fact it is a waste of time little by little. When you look up, half a day has passed. Using it for too long every day is not good for your eyesight, lumbar spine, cervical spine and other physiological health. In the end, it puts a burden on your health. It's not cost-effective."

Take it step by step and influence everything silently. Just like how many technologies influence our lives bit by bit , we can also use this thinking to better manage family relationships and lives.

References

[1]Volkow, N., Wise, R. & Baler, R. The dopamine motive system: implications for drug and food addiction. Nat Rev Neurosci 18, 741–752 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.130

[2]Egerton, A. et al. The dopaminergic basis of human behaviors: a review of molecular imaging studies. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 33, 1109–1132 (2009).

[3]Stauffer, WR, Lak, A. & Schultz, W. Dopamine reward prediction error responses reflect marginal utility. Curr. Biol. 24, 2491–2500 (2014).

[4]Cui, K., Zou, W., Ji,

Planning and production

Author: Mumu, a senior product manager majoring in mathematics at Beijing Normal University and an AI entrepreneur

Reviewer: Yang Xiaoyang, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, Sichuan Normal University

Planning丨Ding Zong

Editor: Ding Zong

Proofread by Xu Lai and Lin Lin

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