Long gone are the days of begging your pal to send you Rihanna's Umbrella for you Motorola Razr. The days of flipping your phone a la Sharpay Evans after a phone call to see which room you were in for Maths. Oh and the days of playing Snake for eleven days straight without once reaching for the charger are gone and buried, mate.
Now we can do a whole host of fancy-shmancy things with a cellular. From finding out what our second cousin's girlfriend's best friend's sister wore on her holiday to Mallorca in 2015 (#guilty) to taking a selfie with an Ex On The Beach star we met in Tesco that one time - it's fair to say we rely on our phones QUITE. A. BIT.
We even read a book on our phones once.
So treat the following like a pretend quiz. Nod your head at every point that screams 'YES, THAT'S SO ME, HOW DO YOU KNOW ME SO WELL, STOP RIFLING THROUGH MY BINS.’
QUIZ TIME - Are you obsessed with your phone?
If you have been nodding along to more than 4 of the above, you probably are using your phone a teeny bit too much.
The boffins at Grazia HQ, who have done a proper study into phone usage and how it's affected us all. Here is some cold hard facts.
When it comes to mental health and wellbeing, a third of women said that social media affects her body image, 26% say it has a negative effect on anxiety and one in four say it has a negative impact on their self-esteem and mental health. T
Meanwhile, our relationships are suffering too, half of women surveyed were worried about how technology has repercussions on family life and 68% agreed with the statement: ‘phones now ruin what would once have been quality time with friends/family’. Ouch. Maybe time to visit your grandparents and watch First Dates with your housemates.
Social lives are being affected too: 83% are annoyed when phones are used during a meal out and 64% admitting to being infuriated when phones are used during a night out.
SOMETIMES WE JUST WANT TO EAT OUR NANDOS WITHOUT MAKING SURE IT LOOKS PRETTY FOR 30 LIKES.
The Editor of Grazia Natasha Pearlman said: “Advances in technology have given us huge benefits and transformed our lives and careers. However, this survey reveals we’ve reached a tipping point. Where technology once liberated us, now we feel we’re slaves or negatively addicted to it.
"I was astounded at quite how much our mobile use affects our mental health, and increases anxiety – and the huge number of women who say phones ruin quality time with friends and family. It’s why we have scoured the globe to bring our readers different ways to disconnect in our special Unplugged Issue.”
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The Grazia Unplugged issue, on sale now, is encouraging readers to lay electronic devices aside and rediscover the joy of scroll-free suppers, call-free conversations and textless time-outs.