B2 – Upper Intermediate
It’s not just your willpower—phones are deliberately designed to be addictive. With features like infinite scrolling, push notifications, and personalized content, smartphones keep users engaged longer than they intend. Tech companies use psychological tricks to tap into our need for connection, rewards, and instant gratification, making it harder to put our devices down. As a result, many find themselves spending more time on their phones than they planned, raising concerns about the impact on mental health and well-being.
Watch the video and be able to answer the questions that follow.
Vocabulary Questions:
- What is “push notification“? “When push notifications were first introduced for email on Blackberries in 2003, they were actually seen as a way for you to check your phone less.” Use the term in a sentence.
- What does “puppet master” mean here, “If Facebook sends you a push notification that a friend is interested in an event near you, they’re essentially acting like a puppet master, leveraging your desire for social connections so that you use the app more.” Make a sentence using this expression.
- What does “grab bag” mean? “But today, you can get notifications from any app on your phone. So every time you check it, you get a grab bag of notifications that can make you feel a broad variety of emotions.” Use the phrase in a sentence.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you believe smartphone companies intentionally design their devices to be addictive? Why or why not?
- What are your thoughts on how tech companies profit off of users’ attention?
- How has smartphone use impacted your ability to focus or be present in daily life?
- Should tech companies be held responsible for the addictive nature of their devices, or is it up to users to control their own habits?
- What steps can individuals and society take to reduce smartphone addiction without completely giving up technology?
- Share your thoughts on this statement, “Addiction is money.“
2 replies on “Phones Are Designed to be Addicting”
Vocabulary
A push notification is a way your phone can send messages without your consent to your screen. I just got a push notification telling me that there is a new book I can buy.
Puppet master means that someone (the master) is manipulating another person for his own sake. He acted like a puppet master to get the best deal.
Grab bag means that you get notifications from different sources which makes them not go along. The loot in this videogame looks like a grab bag.
Discussion
I think most companies intentionally design their devices to be addictive because the majority of their revenue comes from extracting data and showing advertising to users, so the most time the users spend on their platform the most money they will receive.
I think they have created the drug of the 21st century, a lot of people gets hooked and spend 24/7 on their phones not living in the real world
During college I struggled to focus on specifics task while working at home because I always had my phone by hand, but with time Ive managed to be more present
Yeah I think as they make it on purpose they should be accountable for the problems they generate. I think a fine until they improve the user experience in that way can be a good solution
As an individual you can delete or moderate the use of social media and only download apps that are going to add value to your life.
I think tech companies are based on this statement cause they dont sell anything to the user, their revenue comes from the attention of the user, and in the path of increasing their revenue they’ve used addiction.
Welcome to the Phoneenglish blog. THank you for your interest in starting with your writing practice. Job well done for your first post!
Here are some minor revisions you can make in this sentence:
> Use proper punctuations (period, apostrophe, comma).
> Remember to use different words/phrases and not the same one twice in a sentence or within the same paragraph.
Enjoy writing! Until your next entry!