Predictions for 2021 | The addiction of smartphones

This post is going to be a prediction what is going to happen on social media platforms in 2021 and why we get so addicted to our smartphones. We can all agree that 2020 has been a crazy year with things going on in the world every single month from wildfires to a global pandemic. The pandemic has caused huge crashes in the market and have forced a lot of business to shut down but it has also caused changes in the marketing perspective and on social media.

We all know that if something big is going on that affects a lot of people no matter if it’s good or bad for our planet many people want to get evolved. Every time these events happen we see a big increase in social media posts, stories and videos. 2020 has taken this to a hole new level. A global pandemic that have been forcing so many people to stay at home. When people are loosing jobs, get sick or are just bored and can not even leave their house they are searching for new opportunities to make money from home. One of the most efficient ways to make money from home is through social media platforms 2020 which has led to that the content produced has nearly been doubled since the start of the pandemic. 

When everyone at home creating content and creating videos to make an income, the social media game has become a lot harder. The competition has been huge in the late 2020 which makes it so much harder to get noticed. Believe me or not but I think actually this can be a good thing for a driven content creators when going into the year of 2021. Hopefully the pandemic will come to an end in 2021 and when it does I believe we are going to see a insane decrease in the content produced all over the world. 

Why? Not everyone has created content before and used social platforms before 2020. Reading and watching movies about how to create a following on social media is nothing like actually doing it. I personally think a lot of people was just looking for the quickest way to make money from home and to be honest it is not that easy. Overnight success has happened before but it is very unusual and with the competition right now it’s nearly impossible. Many people glorify the work of making money through social platforms. They watch the big stars on the internet and think it’s going to be easy. 

I talked about this in the past and I really think it’s one of the most important steps to make it on. PATIENCE. If your content is good and you got the patience and consistency nothing can really stop you. Nearly all of the people that started create content with the mindset that it was going to make them rich are going to fail. It’s a very long and hard process to get your first money. It is very possible but it’s a lot of work. This is the first reason why I think creating content is going to be a great opportunity in 2021. The second reason is just because everyone is going to enjoy the world in every way they can when the pandemic is over. Everyone I talk to tell me how much they missed partying, going out to eat, going to concerts or just small things like meeting their friends. So many people are going to be focused on enjoying the situation which lead to a great opportunity to the people who are willing to put in the work.

The negative aspect is of course that I also believe the time spend on social media is going to decrease for a while. At the same time we all may have got addicted to our smartphones by the hours spent at home already. Smartphone addiction is actually a very serious thing and not a joke at all. Getting a text or notification on your smartphone releases a chemical called dopamine in your body. This is exactly the same chemical that are released when we drink and when we gamble. As you all may figure it’s highly, highly additive. This is why so many people check their phone while driving for example. They just can not help it because they are addicted. It takes you literally five minutes to find somewhere to stop to check but instead of waiting we check while driving which has led to a lot more accident in the traffic recently. The chemical dopamine is not dangerous in general in the right amount. Drinking, gambling and social media is fun in the right amount but when it’s not balanced it gets dangerous. 

We can see by studies that depression and suicide has increased since the smartphone came. This is because we  have gotten addicted and now after the pandemic I believe more than ever. Every year the age of kids getting their first smartphone is getting lower. We know the majority of people getting addicted to alcohol discovered alcohol as teenagers. It’s exactly the same with smartphones. When alcoholics get stressed or depressed it’s very common they start to drink. When life get hard they turn to the alcohol. This is actually what is going on with so many people in this generation with phones instead. When life gets hard and people get sad they turn to their phones instead of talking to people about their problems which has lead to a higher percentage of depression and suicide. 

These problems effect you in the business world as well in many cases. Take meetings as an example. Simon Sinek who is an expert on these topics that I mentioned in earlier posts said “If you sitting in a meeting with people you supposed to be listening to and speaking and you put your phone on the the table. Face up or face down, I don’t care. That sends a subconscious message to the room that you are just not that important to me right now and why you can’t put it away is because you are addicted.”

The smartphone addiction has become a very big problem and I thought I mention some negative aspects in this post. I’m writing blog posts about how to grow on social media and to use your phone in your business but I also know the consequences. It must be balanced every time. If you want to learn about the tricks of using your phone in the business world you should also learn how to avoid getting way to addicted. This post became a little longer and deeper but I use this blog as a way of expressing my thoughts and teaching in the same time. I always write what is on my mind so once in a while the posts are going to be a little bit longer as well. 

In conclusion I think 2021 is going to be huge in the social media world. If you think you have the time and effort to put in to the 24/7 business that social media is so go ahead. I will probably give it a try as well to be honest but always think about the negative aspects as well. Smartphone addiction is never a good thing and it should always be used in a balanced way. More people need to take this problem serious to get any change.

To end this post I just quote Simon Sinek once again and I think this summarize this post really good. 

“Like all addictions in time it will destroy relationships, it will cost time and it will cost money and it will make your life worse”. ~Simon Sinek

Be careful and reach out to people instead of a bottle or device when life gets hard.