Increased Screen Usage in Lockdown

SAP PROJECT

Shreyas Verma | Behavioral Science

THE MOTIVE

I took a survey through Google Forms to take data form people of various age groups to find out what changes have occurred in the time of lockdown related to device and screen usage. The basis of the survey was to know

−      How people were majorly using screens for.

−      How long they have their eyes peeped into any display.

−      What are they doing to protect their eyes because of the heavy use of gadgets?

 

 

Why the screen usage has beeN increased

Phone users under coronavirus lockdown are reporting significant increases in the amount of time they are spending on their devices.

The spike in phone use appears to stem from social distancing measures put in place by countries around the world aiming to contain the outbreak.

Unable to leave their homes to socialise with friends and family, people are increasingly turning to their smartphones for entertainment and to stay connected.

The major causes are work from home situations and this has affected teachers and students a lot because of the online classes being held.

Most of the people who are working from home are facing more burden and the students already spending a sizeable amount of their days on phones are now completely bound to screens for studying and to somehow pass their time stuck inside homes.

DO PEOPLE REALIZE THE CHANGE?

According to the survey taken, I can say that half of the population has noticed that change and realize that their screen usage has increased drastically in the current situation. They also realize that the increment in the usage is not justified.

 

 

 

REPORT OF MY SURVEY

From the survey I conducted, I got 83 responses.

The gender of the people who filled out the form.

 

 

The different age groups considered to identify the different uses and time for different age groups.

 

They were asked that how many different devices do they use in a day. The more the devices the more the strain on the eyes. And approximately around 5% use at least five devices per day which doesn’t seem right.  

 

The next thing asked was if people are using more devices per average in the pandemic situation, and more that 50% have an increased use. From the result I found out that the major increase is the age group of students.

 

When I asked that is this increased use is because of the lockdown, the response was what we expected.

 

As I said earlier that people do realize that the increased us in not justified, we can see that in this chart here.

 

People in the higher age groups are using screens for 1/3^rd part of their whole day because they are majorly working from home are having lot more work than usual.

 

Has the screen time increased in the past few months? More than 70% know that it has happened.

 

The next question was to know why that many devices and for such long periods used for. Here we can see the majority just using them for entertainment.

 

When asked about the protective measures taken by them somewhat expected responses were received. 2/3^rd are not doing anything. And for the people said they do, the most common things were blue-light filters be it in an application form or via special glasses with coatings. Some also use ayurvedic means and eyedrops

 

And when asked that if they would like to reduce the screen usages just 6% refused that they cannot, rest 96% will and may reduce the usage, with this data we can tell that approximately 95% of the users are on screens unnecessarily.

 

And those who are willing to reduce their usage can reduce it by at least one hour. Which is sufficient in these current situations of such maximized usages.

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

In such harsh conditions we are going through we cannot just stop ourselves from bringing screens I front of ourselves, for the majority of the population their devices are the only means of communication and earning their daily bread.

But what we can do is to monitor the increased usage and give our eyes and our mind a proper rest to relax and recover. Rather than spending time on social media, sit with the family, do something new, talk to grandparents if they do live with you and exercise regularly.

Change cannot be brought immediately, but slowly it is possible. Do something for yourself and you will naturally feel good.