The Real Reasons Behind Why You Can't Put Your Phone Down

Tech experts sit down with Diane Sawyer to discuss why it’s so hard to put your phone down.

In this day and age, almost everyone has a smartphone and iPhones are one of the most popular models. While these devices can be incredibly handy and resourceful, they also open us up to many companies and their sneaky advertising tactics.

If you’ve noticed, it’s becoming more and more difficult for individuals to limit their screen time. From grown adults to children, our phones are tracking our habits to keep us coming back for more.

Journalist Diane Sawyer met with experts Matt Mayberry and Dalton Combs who shared some of the practices that companies intentionally use to make sure we stay glued to our phones. First, when you visit a social media site, the content never ends.

You can keep scrolling and more content will appear. “We never get that stopping cue. We never get the signal saying I’ve probably been on Twitter long enough now. And by design.” Some advertisers will go to great lengths to make sure that we are clicking on their ads.

The experts explain this tricky initiative. “Someone will design an ad that looks like it’s a fly on your screen or a single piece of hair. And you’ll swipe away the piece of hair, but what you’re actually doing is interacting with the ad and you’ve now earned the advertisers money.” All of this is in addition to storing data on our demographics for more targeted advertisements.

Now that you know more detail about some of the practices, will it change your smart phone habits?