Digital Well being

A slightly modified version of an essay presented in the Fall 2022 Course. 

Digital well being, mobile app technology and the Church

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DIGITAL WELL BEING - Challenges and opportunities of mobile phone technology

 

 The contrast happens inside my own house.

My three-year-old daughter comes close to where I am sitting with my phone in hands. She pulls my shirt, asking for attention, and sometimes, what I give her is a few words, hardly disconnecting my eyes from the screen. After some insistence, she finally gets my attention, but not in full. I might tend to her just enough to supply her immediate need and go back to my browsing.

Then, on the other end of the living room, my six-year-old son plays with a “real life” globe next to the TV. When I ask him the location of random countries around it, he will nail them all down. Where is that knowledge from? He watches videos and apps about world maps, quizzes about capitals and flags. His math abilities have also improved with math apps. His collateral learning is enhanced as he plays mobile phone games.[1] To be fair with her, my daughter has also experienced growth in learning for her age, for example, identifying the alphabet through mobile resources like jolly phonics.

Same technology, contrasting results. The use of digital technology is a part of daily life and has changed and reshaped it. How should we respond to this?

The answer is not easy, and it sends us into the broader conversation about technology and its role on our routine, especially mobile phones. My Applied Research Project works with the mobile technology applied to the daily life of Church members, which gives reason for weighing in the conversation about its presence and impact. However, it would be too naïve to approach it from a mere “good” or bad”, “beneficial” and “prejudicial” perspective.[2]  The field is nuanced and the pace of research in the area is as fast as its use. This essay therefore assesses mobile technology from the perspective of Digital Well being.   I will seek to discuss categories or patterns that help situate and shape the research. Challenges and Opportunities are present in the use of a vehicle through which connection is established with disconnected church members in their daily life.

 

Digital well being - Challenges of mobile technology

Mobile phones are everywhere, and according to some web sites they have already outnumbered the world population.[3] While they are useful for enhancing opportunities, from learning to connection and socializing, “they can also interfere with everything from sleep to creativity.”[4] Adding to that, technology is not neutral, as common sense might lead us to believe. The way things are shaped or designed has implied notions, concepts or even biases, as McLuhan famously has already asserted.   Digital Well being therefore is and important area for a congregation considering developing an app. While there are different categories overlapping in this intricate web of the problems mobile technology may generate, we want to briefly discuss two of them: mobile technology and problematic use and mobile technology and the brain. These are the two main areas in which an app developed by a Church might find its biggest challenges and opportunities.

Mobile technology and problematic use

There is a lot of talk about addiction to screens in recent years, and initially I intended to title this topic as “Mobile technology and addiction”. Many articles consulted for this essay in fact use that term. However, in many cases, they are used interchangeably. [5] Adding to this, Psychologists Panova and Carbonell make an interesting case for moving from choosing “problematic or maladaptive” over “addiction”. They observe that

 “addiction is a disorder with severe effects on physical and psychological health. A behavior may have a similar presentation as addiction in terms of excessive use, impulse control problems, and negative consequences, but that does not mean that it should be considered an addiction.” [6]

 

There is no consensus, therefore, about screens as an addictive problem.

Even though in the lines to follow the term addiction will still be present, mainly because the sources use the term, I chose “problematic use” given the interchangeably of the terms and the lack of conclusive data about screens and addiction.

Assessing the problematic use of smartphones, screen time is one of the main areas of concern. Many critics argue that people are addicted to screens in their daily life.[7]”. But the focus on how long screens are used may take the focus away from the real question: how do we use our screens? According to pediatrician Michael Rich, “it’s not how long we’re using screens that really matters; it’s how we’re using them and what’s happening in our brains in response.” [8] This is a question that a congregational app may address with content provided would be worth of the time invested in it. It may focus on the qualitative instead of the quantitative, being consistent with the biblical teachings and focused on daily life topics of the users. This approach helps to point to a profitable way for the how the screens will be used. Content carefully crafted to generate a qualitative screen time instead of a quantitative one addresses this preoccupation about brain health and fosters an ambient of education for a healthy use of mobile devices.

But it goes beyond. It would also tackle another of Dr. Rich’s preoccupations. He affirms that the use of screens may interfere with the natural, healthy process of the establishment of new neural connections and the elimination of unnecessary ones due to the impoverished stimulus received from screens, which may result in what he calls “impoverished” stimulation of the developing brain compared to reality.[9] “Children need a diverse menu of online and offline experiences, including the chance to let their minds wander.”[10]. A Lutheran Congregation is at an advantage point here since it has already a good offline menu available to all here members where she provides the desired diversity. The app can be then a vehicle to encourage actions out in the world rather than just screen time alone. It fosters the dialogue and a balance between the screen and the physical world for its users.

 

Mobile technology and the brain

In her book Reader, come home, Maryanne Wolf explores years of research of the human brain especially related to the digital era. One of her main points of concern, to which she summons society to a watchful vigilance, is to avoid that “the quality of our attention and memory, the perception of beauty and recognition of truth, and the complex decision-making capacities based on all of these atrophy along the way”[11] What may contribute to this atrophy is the fluidity of our attention, as we go from “one stimulus to another… with consequences none could have predicted.”[12] Wolf understands that the bigger impact of technology on the human brain, especially in children, is the ability of deep reading that traditionally would be obtained with physical books. This concept includes processes of connecting background knowledge to new information, the activity of making analogies and drawing inferences, examining truth value, the expansion of empathy and knowledge, and critical analysis.[13]  The superficial assessment of content generated by how easy we get distracted and the velocity in which we can change course in digital browsing stands in contrast with the ability of deep reading that physical books tend to proportionate. She acknowledges that it is inevitable for us to navigate the digital environment, that is why education and training can help children, and people in general, in order not to lose the deep reading abilities that are important for the development of brain activity.[14]

Wolf’s contribution to the neurological research and its practical aspects, especially the concept of deep reading, adds an ingredient with which the Churches are familiar. A Lutheran Congregation is used to work with sound content, and that careful work should spill over to a mobile app. Also, being situated inside the tradition of the historical Churches is an advantage. The congregation already provides spaces and opportunities where the communication, teaching and learning is not totally mediated by technology. The in-person activities are an asset that connects to aspects of the deep reading process, such as intentional reading, reflection, and contemplation. This way balance with the digital activities proposed is generated.

The challenges are present, and they must be considered, pointing to the necessity of holding an attentive and responsible approach to the use of mobile technology.  This way we can avoid contributing to the problematic use of smart phones and digital resources and foster an environment in which the medium does not take the place of the message. Also, that velocity doesn’t trump content and reflection. Nothing is set on stone on the digital research, so new discoveries may dismiss old assumptions, just like the ancient canard about using only a tiny part of our brain[15]. But with the resources already available it becomes evident that care and concern for the way the brain is affected by mobile technology play an important part in the use we make of it.

 

Digital Well being and the app as an op - opportunities of mobile Technology

Engaging in the digital world may sometimes not be perceived as an opportunity but only as a challenge for the Church. That might lead to total avoidance or to an excessively critical posture. Here a broader look into the social history of the media and their assimilation is helpful. Burke and Briggs for example, offer an extensive overview of technologies from Gutenberg to the digital era. Their rise, the controversies, the research and the final acceptance and assimilation by society. [16] And I would add -- by the Church as well. The Church and the digital world do not need to be in antagonism. Neither should be inferred that the Church would be condoning a problematic or even destructive digital culture and behaviour by engaging in it. The fact mostly every technology suffered similar criticism before being accepted and adopted by the Church indicates that engagement and discernment could two sides of the same screen as we touch the topic from a Christian perspective.

That doesn’t mean to say we should ignore the challenges of mobile technology. What needs to be underlined however, is the reality of digital technologies in daily life, the way they have changed our life and the way it becomes almost impossible to avoid them. Maryanne Wolf, as concerned as she is with the brain and its abilities facing a digital era, is very clear in stating:

I have little doubt that the next generation will go beyond us in ways we cannot imagine at this moment. As Alec Ross, the author of The Industries of the Future, wrote, 65 percent of the jobs our present preschoolers will hold in the future haven’t even been invented yet. Their lives will be extended much beyond ours. They may well think very different thoughts. They will need the most sophisticated armamentarium of abilities that humans have ever acquired to date: vastly elaborated deep-reading processes that are shared with and expanded through coding, designing, and programming skills, all of which will be transformed by a future that none of us—from Stewart Brand, Sundar Pichai, Susan Wojcicki, Juan Enriquez, and Steve Gullans to Craig Venter and Jeff Bezos—can now predict.[17]

 

It means that the digital world and mobile technology are not shrinking but will continue to expand in ways we can hardly figure out by now.

 In this context, the opportunity is at hand. People are immersed in the mobile technology world whether we deem it to be in a proper or not so proper manner. To make use of technology then is to engage in digital education and literacy and foster the conversation, perhaps even helping with the difficult issues. Does it come with challenges and risks? It certainly does. However, the Church is used to challenge and risk, as she dealt with it through the ages. The Ecumenical Councils and their times; Reformation challenges; The development of the Enlightenment, and the rise of the Historical Critical Method times could make for good illustrations. The same holds true for our age. As Bernard Bull puts it, his readers “should realize the fact that one cannot choose the age in which to live, but one can decide how to respond to that age”. [18] Also, as complex and nuanced as this field is, the approach does not necessarily need to be one that it is always problematic or monolithic.[19]  That may happen, as seen above, with the Technology problematic usage approach, which has that assumption.  The screen time approach has been suffering some criticism in its viability for capturing those nuances. Meier discusses findings in his research about mobile app usage not being “robustly directly associated with decreased well-being”.^[20]

What would be some of the opportunities, and consequent benefits, of the use of technology? The list presented by Boche and Hollatz is not exhaustive but offers a good sample of beneficial aspects of the use of digital technology. Psychologically, it may offer us exposition to new ideas and concepts that couldn’t be attained otherwise. It also provides group support in a variety of settings, bridges the gap of communication breakdowns in person and professional relationships. Lastly, it helps us to achieve more exposure to different topics and issues which we might not be aware of without it.[21]  Mobile applications are found helpful as a tool for language learning.[22]

Another strong argument for an adequate response and use may lie in stimulating what Wolf calls the “biliterate brain,” especially when it comes to reading. Since no one can predict how the digital world is still to expand, it focuses on education to make the best use possible of both worlds, enhancing the benefits of both printed and digital environments.[23] Even though she works mainly from a perspective of education children from zero to five, Wolf’s concept may be broadened to a larger audience. Subsidy for this approach lies in the “Plasticity of the reading brain”.  Beyond sophisticated functions the brain can realize, it is able to,

go beyond its original, biologically endowed functions—like vision and language—to develop totally unknown capacities such as reading and numeracy. To do so, it forms a new set of pathways by connecting and sometimes repurposing aspects of its older and more basic structures.[24]

 

One example is our ability to read, that is not innate, as is speaking. If we don’t rehearse our deep reading abilities constantly it can be lost. Therefore, the brain needs constant practice to continue to make new connections to assimilate and develop new paths.[25]

Using an app and smartphone technology, thus, means an opportunity to engage in the mobile technology available while raising awareness about the challenges that come with it. In a sense, taking on challenges and opportunities is nothing new, since the Church of all ages had to respond to challenges and advances of its own time.[26] Actually, one could make a case for the Church as the leader in technology at some points in history, taking on the risks and benefiting from its opportunities. For example, a Brazilian Administrator and Marketing Strategist offered this analysis:

“A great publicist said and that the Church has the best logo ever created. It's the cross. The symbol says it all and it's very easy to be reproduced, even by children. It is easily identified in any culture. This is how the Church has taught advertising about making simple logos. The first vehicle from History's mass communication was the bell, at a time in which there was not even a megaphone. The priests ordered to raise tall towers and created codes. Three quick chimes meant that the priest was calling for mass, slow chimes warned the deaths. This communication extended over a radius of several kilometers. The first billboards were the towers of churches. When you enter small towns what you see first is the tower, which turns into a point of reference for the people.”[27]

 

The Church not only dealt with challenging developments along the way but she at some points was the leader of that process. The same holds valid for the digital world and its challenges and opportunities with which the Church should engage.

While the challenges are big, the opportunities are bigger. The digital world is a reality which is not going away. The Church will benefit from participating in this evolving process, assuming risks but above all to make use of the opportunities. As she did with the press, with the radio, the television, the email, and the website, to quote a few.  Local congregations do not need to be afraid of making responsible use of the means available as they see them as a tool useful for its mission. It may happen sometimes that she would get so immersed in it that it won’t pay the due attention to her “children” in need of attention – which would call for reflection and re-evaluation of processes. But in so many other times, the learning process will be enhanced, and connections may be generated and solidified. She will engage in a learning process making use of the opportunities that the digital world presents. A process that may generate a bridge between the contrasts of the beneficial and problematic, the challenges and the opportunities. A connection between the physical world of the sanctuary and the digital world inside the living room, where people disconnected from the content provided by their congregation have a mobile screen at hand.

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[1] Gladwell, Malcolm, “Brain Candy”, The New Yorker, 0028792X, Vol. 81, Issue 13, 3.

[2] Sutton, A. Trevor, and Brian Smith. “Redeeming Technology: A Christian Approach to Healthy Digital Habits.” Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2021, 37

[3] For example: “Number of Mobile Devices Worldwide 2020-2025 | Statista.” Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/245501/multiple-mobile-device-ownership-worldwide/.

[4] Ruder, Debra B. “Screen Time and the Brain.” Harvard, News and Research, Accessed November 17, 2022. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/screen-time-brain.

[5] For example:

Elhai JD, Dvorak RD, Levine JC, Hall BJ. Problematic smartphone use: A conceptual overview and systematic review of relations with anxiety and depression psychopathology. J Affect Disord. 2017 Jan 1;207:251-259. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.08.030. Epub 2016 Oct 2. PMID: 27736736.

Carbonell X, Chamarro A, Oberst U, Rodrigo B, Prades M. Problematic Use of the Internet and Smartphones in University Students: 2006-2017. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Mar 8;15(3):475. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15030475. PMID: 29518050; PMCID: PMC5877020.

[6] Panova T, Carbonell X. “Is smartphone addiction really an addiction?” J Behav Addict. 2018 Jun 1;7(2):252-259. doi: 10.1556/2006.7.2018.49. Epub 2018 Jun 13. PMID: 29895183; PMCID: PMC6174603, 1

[7] “show that “the average person spends 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phone each day. And 1 in 5 smartphone users spends upwards of 4.5 hours on average on their phones every day.” Exploding Topics. “Time Spent Using Smartphones (2022 Statistics),” May 27, 2022. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/smartphone-usage-stats.

[8] Ruder, Debra B. “Screen Time and the Brain”, accessed November 17, 2022

[9] Ruder, Debra B., “Screen Time and the Brain”, Accessed November 17, 2022.

[10] Ruder, Debra B., “Screen Time and the Brain”, Accessed November 17, 2022.

[11] Wolf, Maryanne. “Reader, Come Home; the Reading Brain in a Digital World.” First Harper paperbacks edition. New York: Harper, 2019, 85-86

[12] Wolf, Maryanne, "Reader, Come Home”, 70

[13]  Wolf, Maryanne, Reader, Come Home, 35-64

[14]  Wolf, Maryanne, Reader, Come Home, 85-86

[15] Wolf, "Reader, Come Home”, 20

[16] Briggs, Asa, and Peter Burke. A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet. 3rd ed. Malden, MA: Polity, 2009.

[17] Wolf, "Reader, Come Home”, 169

[18] Bull, Bernard Dean, “Digitized: Spiritual Implications of Technology”, Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 2018.

[19] Meier, Adrian, “Studying Problems, Not Problematic Usage: Do Mobile Checking Habits Increase Procrastination and Decrease Well-Being?”, Accessed November 17, 2022. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20501579211029326.

[20]  Meier, Adrian, “Studying Problems, Not Problematic Usage”, Accessed November 17, 2022

[21] Boche,, Ben and Jacob Hollatz, “Faithfully Connected: Integrating Biblical Principles in a Digital World”, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2018, p.145

[22] Kuimova, Marina, Douglas Burleigh, Huseyin Uzunboylu, and Ruslan Bazhenov. “Positive Effects of Mobile Learning on Foreign Language Learning” 7, no. 4 (n.d.): 5, p.839

[23] Wolf, Maryanne, "Reader, Come Home”, 168-171

[24]  Wolf, Maryanne, "Reader, Come Home”, 16

[25] Wolf, Maryanne, "Reader, Come Home”, 34

[26] Some examples might include: the adaption to the “technology of the Imperial Court” after 380AD; The Reformation times; the challenges of the Enlightenment; the rise of the Historical-Critical Method.

[27] Kater Filho, Antonio M,. “How to sell faith”, Veja Magazine, São Paulo, Abril, p. 36, June 09, 1999, p.36. Speaking of communicational processes, with which the development of an app is intertwined, we usually think in terms of “making communication”. The fact is that we don’t make it, it is happening whether one “makes” it or not. What we try to do is to weigh in the communicational process to cause an inflexion that may influence it in a certain desired direction.