Digital wellness or digital wellbeing has become the new buzz topic in both the tech and the wellness industry. It’s not by chance that the 2 big players (Google, Apple, etc.) have already embraced it and launched their own screen monitoring tools.
My goal with this article is not to define what digital wellness means but to compilate new interesting ideas that, soon, will become part of our common jargon. These new terms were found in articles, media, keynotes and similar over the last 12 months and go, obviously, beyond the already established concepts like “Digital Detox”, “Phubbing”, “Nomophobia” etc. that already feel old to me.
I believe that all these terms, as it happens to others that today feel common (“Selfie”, “Tweet”, “Postureo”, etc.), will become part of our daily vocabulary and expressions and some will even make it to the official dictionary.
1- “TECHNOLOGY HANGOVER”
What: Hangover feeling produced by that whole multitasking and smartphone hyperactivity.
When: 12 December 2017
Where: Restore your brain with nature | David Strayer | TEDxManhattanBeach (5:15’ — 6:53′)
2- “PHONELINESS”
What: Symptoms of digital addiction defined by loneliness increased by our attachment to our smartphones.
When: 2018
Where: “Digital Addiction: Increased Loneliness, Anxiety, and Depression” by Erik Peper, Richard Harvey.
3- “DIGITAL MINIMALISM”
What: Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It’s the key to living a focused life in an increasingly noisy world (Cal Newport).
When: 2018
Where: The term was first used by Bagby. “One thing that grabbed my attention was the fact that everybody is trying to solve this problem by adding more technology (a new app, a new phone, etc.) while the key should be the opposite. Less technology is more”. However, the term has quickly become popular thank you to Cal Newport’s new book “Digital Minimalism”
4- “APPSTURBATING”
What: It’s what you do when you open and close the same three (or six, I don’t know the size of your…rotation) apps on your smartphone. The impossible-to-fight compulsion can strike on your commute, when a deadline is looming, during a commercial break, or until you fall asleep at night.
When: 9 August 2018
Where: “Appsturbating” was born, like all good things are, deep in the caverns of Twitter in this response by @bret_douglass (1.3K likes!).
I hope you enjoyed this list and we can make it bigger together. Have any new “digital wellbeing” term in mind? Leave your comment below.