[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Left to
our own devices...
You are constantly engaged.
Click on that Twitter cue,
or your email.
But how much
control do we really have?
>> It's just addictive, yeah!
>> David: Playing all
those apps...
>> He seems to prefer being on
his tablet over everything else.
>> David: Or maybe,
they're playing us.
>> They're all in
a technological arms race
to keep you there the longest.
>> David: It is a real
world experiment,
and no one's figured out the
risks of all those rewards.
This is your Marketplace.
[ Cellphone Chimes ]
>> David: We've all seen them.
Maybe even been them.
People glued to their phones,
walking, not watching.
Whoa.
We offer a service
here in Canada.
>> David: Almost three
quarters of us own one.
I'm gonna just help you guys,
as you're walking and texting.
Go ahead.
You can just keep your head
down and I'll clear the path.
Watch out folks.
Thanks.
This guy...
..he's really into his phone.
We follow him for
thirty seconds.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Never noticed.
Our average daily use?
Almost three hours.
I can help clear
the crowds for ya.
>> My god, this is
an amazing service.
>> David: They're taking
over lives like nothing before.
You go ahead.
You finish that message.
I'll keep that
path clear for ya.
Did you ever think smartphones
would get to this point?
>> No.
I definitely never would've
thought I'd need my phone
so much.
And need is the key word.
Not just want.
>> I'm good.
>> David: You're good?
>> Yeah.
>>David: All right,
enjoy your day.
>> Thank you.
>> David: For now,
I'm leading them.
But where is all of
this leading us?
What if you forgot
your phone at home?
>> That's a big
issue for the day.
That's a stress.
>> David: How did
we get so hooked?
>> This is, like,
my whole life right here.
If I lose my phone,
I don't know where I'd be.
>> David: Now, laugh about it,
but it's part of a plan you
didn't even know
you signed up for.
>> As soon as I catch
myself about to text,
I'm like, "Oh, what am I doing?
"This is so stupid."
>> David: Why is that?
Why do we have to?
>> I don't know.
That's a great question.
>> David: Okay, we're going
to try to answer it.
Good to meet you.
>> Good to meet you, too.
>> David: I wasn't
going to take your phone.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cellphone Chimes ]
>> David: This is World Report.
It's been ten years since
the first iPhone went on sale.
And now it's the norm
to have the internet,
social media, and countless
apps in the palm of your hand.
As someone who
covers this stuff,
you'd think I'd know better.
You are constantly engaged.
Click on that Twitter queue,
or your email.
The pressure to kind
of go back and forth.
I don't drink coffee,
but i do have an addiction,
and here it is.
It's ringing actually.
Hello?
Yup, this is a real call.
Hello?
It's my wife.
I'm doing a talk for Marketplace
right now about how much I am
on my phone.
Do you want to take a guess?
It's not 24
hours a day.
That's not possible.
[ Cellphone Chimes ]
>> David: We've found a
family in Guelph, Ontario,
is willing to do
more than guess.
There's an app that we're going
to get you to put on your phone.
But worried about
what we'll find.
>> I'm scared to find out.
For me and for him and for them.
>> He's, like, literally playing
games as we speak!
>> I just feel like I'm going
to look like a bad mother.
>> David: Our family has
agreed to let us track their
devices over the
next two months.
Using an app called 'Moment.'
Can you guys download it?
You've already found it,
Mark.
You've got it.
You're downloading.
It measures how often
they're on their phones...
We agree you're
not going to peek, right?
Agree?
Agree?
What they're
using them for...
>> Wait, do you want it to
send me notifications?
No.
>> David: ..and how
long they're at it.
What we can't see is your texts.
We can't see your photos.
We can't see anything like that.
>> We're always on the girls and
if our usage is way higher than
theirs then we're
gonna have to eat crow.
>> I think you're
going to be exposed.
>> Yeah, that'll be interesting.
>> I feel like I'm using
the phone for silly things.
I just feel guilty about it.
I don't know why.
>> David: I'd be willing to
bet your family, all of you,
aren't any different
from my family,
aren't any different
from that family,
or that family, or people on
the other side of the country.
But we're trying
to do something.
We're trying to
actually learn something.
>> Right.
>> David: But we're not the
only ones tracking these guys.
[ Cellphone Chimes ]
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Down here
in California, there's a whole
industry that's keeping tabs on
how all of us use our phones...
..so they can try to
make us use them more.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Ramsay Brown
knows all about it.
He does it for a living.
What is it that you do
here at Dopamine Labs?
>> Yes, so we use AI and
neuroscience to help apps
become more engaging
and persuasive.
>> David: In other words,
more addictive.
>> So this is what
our AI is figuring out.
How to personalize for
every person uniquely.
Whether that's
the extra 10 points,
the good job, the high five,
the congrats.
>> David: Ramsay says
the secret lies in giving our
brains pleasure.
>> It's not an accident, it's a
conscious design decision.
We're really living in this
new era that we're not just
designing software anymore
we're designing minds.
>> David: Okay, now that
freaks me out.
So there's all
this manipulation.
The gain is
getting my attention.
>> Yeah, it's so valuable.
The biggest tech firms in the
world now are figuring out what
they can do to
continuously juice people.
For them a doubling in the
amount of time someone's
spending on their
platform can turn into
a doubling of revenue.
And if you can do that in
just a few lines of code,
it's a no-brainer for them
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: A no-brainer that
plays with our brains using a
method called
"variable rewards".
You're never sure what you'll
get and that's what
makes it so compulsive.
>> You're using these apps
that are designed to keep you
on the hook.
It's not every single time that
they're going to be paying out,
giving you those likes,
giving you those thumbs ups...
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Facebook loves
giving variable rewards.
And it works.
We now spend nearly an
hour on Facebook every day.
25% more than we
did just two years ago.
In that same time, our overall
smartphone use has shot up more
than an hour and a half a day.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> Grab your glove, ladies!
>> David: Take a look at Mark,
the dad we're tracking.
He's a softball coach and a
sports junkie who likes his fix.
>> If I get an alert,
somebody's been traded.
I got to go check, I look,
I read three or four
other stories.
It kind of lures you in.
>> And before you
know it, hours have passed.
>> David: Tanya confesses
something else, too.
>> If I'm watching a tv show,
I might be on my phone just
scrolling and by the time the tv
show is done I have no idea what
the show was about.
>> David: She's talking
about Facebook, and a
phenomenon known
as the "infinite scroll."
It traps you in an
endless stream of content,
of shares, likes, thumbs up.
>> I'll just look at it to...
just for something to do.
And it makes me happy.
>> I'm making an animation.
>> David: Her son
Jackson's never far from his
device either.
>> Wake up,
eat breakfast, Samsung, Samsung,
go to school.
>> David: He's been
wired up for half his life...
and he's only eight.
>> And then after school?
>> Samsung, Samsung, Samsung,
eat before I go to bed because
I'm hungry, Samsung,
Samsung, go to bed, goodnight.
Sleep, sleep, like a sheep.
>> David: One of
Jackson's favourite apps?
Musical.ly.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Like many apps,
Musical.ly's free.
[ ♪♪ ]
You're supposed
be 13 to sign up,
But it is easy
for anyone to join.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: And kids
Jackson's age love it.
Because like kids of
all ages these days,
it's all about the followers.
>> On Musical.ly,
I have over a thousand.
>> David: Over a
thousand, wow.
And what does that mean
to have that many people?
>> I feel really
happy when I go on it.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: And you want to
be followed by more people?
>> Yeah.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Think about it.
The two biggest creators of this
technology didn't let their own
kids have access to
their revolutionary devices.
What did they see coming
that the rest of us don't?
It's a question that people like
Lisa Pont are trying to answer.
>> People are showing
up on our doors saying,
"Hey, this is really, uh,
having a negative impact
"on our life" and
so we're starting from there.
>> David: She's a social
worker at Toronto's Centre For
Addiction And Mental Health.
Is it addiction?
Is it compulsive behaviour?
What is it?
>> Research is starting to show
that technology has an impact on
memory, concentration, mood,
so anxiety and depression,
it has an impact on sleep,
it has an impact on overall
well being.
>> David: But what
about children specifically?
Kids like Jackson?
>> If you give them a
buffet of candy and say,
"All right, have at it"
they're probably not going to
stop themselves.
They'll probably have to
get sick before they stop.
So I think, particularly younger
people need some parental
guidance around
how much they use,
because it's too tempting
at that age to mitigate their
own use.
They're not-- you're not even
dealing with the fully developed
brain who has the same
kind of impulse control,
or ability to
foresee consequences.
[ Cellphone Chimes ]
>> David: So how
much is Jackson using?
>> I think they're entertaining.
>> David: We track him in the
summer for nearly eight weeks.
Then, add up his screen time...
His average is 5 hours a day.
But on many days,
it's twice that.
Eight, nine, ten hours.
Mostly on YouTube.
We haven't told his mum yet,
but she sees it coming.
>> I do worry about the amount
of time that Jackson spends on
his tablet.
He seems to prefer being on
his tablet over everything else.
>> David: Meantime, 16-year-old
Emily is trading sleep for
social media.
>> I just get up in
my room and I'm like,
"I'm just going to check my
phone quick before bed,"
and then I get scrolling,
and time keeps ticking.
>> Where I get concerned
about Emily is when she's doing
her homework.
She's maybe frustrated it's
taking too long and you can hear
the phone going
ding ding ding ding.
>> David: All those
notifications have concerned
experts taking notice...
>> So I already see an increase
in your heart rate after we took
your phone.
>> David: Ahh.
That's something.
This is your Marketplace.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: The real deal
on your Marketplace.
If you ever want to know how
much our phones are taking
over our lives...
>> Here you go, it's recording.
[ Laughter ]
>> David: ..convince a
teenager...
>> Turn your phone
a bit towards me.
>> David: ..to put her device
down long enough to
capture what's
going on around her.
>> You're on tv right now,
I'm recording you.
>> What game are
you playing, Jack?
>> David: Jackson is
Emily's brother.
>> Geometry Dash.
>> Geometry Dash.
>> David: And these
are her friends.
>> This is sending
streaks everybody.
>> David: They're hooked
on social media.
>> I have my phone
on me all the time.
>> David: Remember, the more
they do this, the more money
for tech companies.
But what's the cost to us?
>> If I don't have it, I feel
like I'm not myself I guess.
>> David: To find out,
we're tracking Emily's
phone use.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: For her and her
friends, that means Snapchat.
>> Can I get a
small chai tea latte?
>> David: They use it
constantly to communicate.
Sending photos to each other
even when they're side by side.
>> I feel like it's just
part of our lives now, like,
everyone does it, and, like,
it's something, like,
every single morning
you wake up and do it.
>> Before you get
ready for school.
>> Which is so routine now,
and, like, if you don't do it
then you're different
from everyone else.
>> David: They call it "FOMO".
"Fear of missing out".
>> I just need to
know what's going on,
and I just feel like I need to
answer before, like, I'm out of
the loop kind of thing, so...
>> Especially group chats.
>> Yeah.
>> Oh, god.
>> David: 158 million people
use Snapchat every day.
So what keeps them so fixated?
>> My highest one
right now is 643.
With one of my
friends from baseball.
>> Mine's 547.
>> Mine's 551.
>> David: They're talking
about 'streaks'.
The number of days
in a row you 'snap' a friend.
Emily has a streak that's
been going almost two years.
>> It's just kind of, like,
now we have to.
>> David: That's called
"loss aversion."
Something that started as
a pleasure, is now a prison.
>> Especially if it's over a
year then it's really intense
and you have to.
>> David: Just another way app
designers keep us coming back
for more.
The proof is on Emily's phone.
There are days she's on it five,
six sometimes seven hours.
Mostly on Snapchat.
Days of picking up
her phone a hundred times.
>> I feel like before there
were streaks I went on
Snapchat way less.
It's just addictive.
Yeah!
>> I feel like that's why the
Snapchat creators did it, like,
they made it so that now, like,
people have to go on Snapchat
like all the time
so that, like, yeah...
>> David: That is
why Snapchat did it,
according to Ramsay Brown.
>> This is what we built
that's actually going to show up
on their phones.
>> David:He doesn't work
for Snapchat, but does
help smaller companies make
their apps more addictive.
>> David: So if the game is
all about keeping people on
your app, then Snapchat,
with its streak, is winning.
>> It's definitely in their
business model to get you
to find a way to binge.
>> David: And while
we're binging, social media's
collecting info about us,
targeting us with ads.
And raking in the bucks.
Together, these sites will make
about 40 billion in ad revenue
this year alone.
It's a winning formula for them
that may come with serious
consequences for us.
Anxiety.
Distraction.
I notice it in myself.
Okay, so this is
Western University.
It's actually where some of the
best people in Canada are when
we talk about
cognitive function.
Things to do with our brain.
So they're going to test me.
Don't know how I'm going to do.
We're gonna find out.
>> We want to know
when you become distracted,
how that changes your cognition.
>> David: Bobby Stojanoski
is going to test my attention,
my memory, and my focus.
>> David: There you go.
>> I'll take this away from you.
>> David: Okay.
I'm wired up to a heart monitor.
>> So I already see an
increase in heartrate after we
took your phone.
>> David: Ahh, that's something.
Start challenge.
No phone.
No distraction.
Accurately says the colour.
That's a tricky one.
After the first round,
Bobby's gonna add my
phone into the mix.
>> We're going to do it again.
>> David: But we're going
to add some distraction.
>> We are.
>> David: Ignore the word.
I can't see it...
[ Cellphone Ringing ]
>> David: But I can hear it.
And I start to make mistakes.
Ignore the word...oops.
All right.
>> Good job.
How did you feel?
>> David: The first time
it rang, I was taken out of
what I was doing.
Next, it gets harder.
I have to remember numbers
that are being texted to me.
>> It reflects the way we
normally interact with
our phones.
You've sent a message
to a partner or co-worker,
expecting some
bit of information,
and now you're waiting
to hear back from them.
>> David: On cue my producer
Virginia starts texting me.
Remembering these numbers?
Not so easy.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> Dave: Okay, 12.
>> Good job.
>> David: 465 566 667.
>> Well done.
>> David: The last two I
actually just made a conscious
decision and said forget it.
Just when
I think it's over,
Bobby turns up the heat.
Square is
bigger than circle.
[ High-pitched Chiming ]
>> David: But I have a strategy.
Each time a call
comes in, I mute the phone.
As they
come in, it's vibrating.
And that's a huge distraction.
>> Right.
>> David: And keeping tabs
on the dinging texts?
Impossible.
>> We all choose different ways
of compensating for the degree
of distraction that
our phones provide.
>> David: A quick fix?
Turn off my notifications.
>> Just waiting for
David to get off his phone.
>> David: Easier said than done.
>> That's good footage.
>> David: Clearly...
I get distracted.
But how much?
>> Your verbal went
down by nearly 20%.
>> David: Okay.
That means
my attention.
And it nose dives.
>> David: That's a big drop.
>> It is a fairly
significant drop.
>> David: It's early days
for this kind of research.
No one really knows the
long-term impact of our
phone fixation, especially on
young minds.
There are days when he is on
this tablet for
nine or more hours.
Does that surprise you?
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: This is
your Marketplace.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Hooked on your phone,
on your Marketplace.
This family in Guelph, Ontario,
loves their devices.
And we're about to
find out just how much.
>> Why do you
have the tv on too?
>> Because I
forgot to turn it off.
>> David: Nestled among
all their apps, Facebook,
Snapchat, YouTube, is one
that's been keeping track of
their daily use for
nearly two months.
>> Screen time is
only three hours and 34 minutes
per day.
>> David: Their numbers are
more surprising when you break
them down.
>> It says I'm on my
phone 21% per day.
>> David: So 21% of the
time that you're awake,
you're on your phone.
>> It sounds bad
when you say it that way.
>> David: Here's another way.
One fifth of the day.
And that's what
it is for Mark, too.
What does it say about how
many years you'll spend on
your phone?
>> Oh, my gosh!
8.8 years.
That's awful.
>> David: Eight years.
That's how old
her son Jackson is!
So what about him
and his sister Emily?
They were tracked in the
summer when school was out,
and devices were in.
>> Oh, 30% of my day.
>> David: 30% of your day.
>> I think, for me,
that is a realization
that, like, I actually do have
more time than I think.
>> David: Time she's mostly
spending under Snapchat's
addictive spell.
>> We've been trying
to tell her that for years.
>> David: At the rate she's
going Emily will spend
nine and a half years of
her life on her phone.
>> That's insane.
>> David: I ask Mum and Dad
to look at Jackson's tracker.
>> There are days when
he is on this
tablet for nine or more hours.
Does that surprise you?
>> It surprises me a
little bit that it's that high.
>> I find a lot of times
he does have his Samsung on,
and it's running and
he's not even watching it.
Not to try and justify
the amount of time.
>> No, but he, he does--
>> David: It's understanding.
>> When he has an activity,
his day is consumed.
>> David: And his hours go down.
Without more activities,
and less YouTube,
Jackson's projections
of lifetime use are even
more shocking.
>> Jackson,
you're 15 years.
>> I haven't even
been around that long.
>> We're teaching
them bad habits, really, um--
>> Well we know different
families that have shut the
wi-fi down at
8:00 or 9:00, right?
You know, but as a parent I
guess you have
to lead by example.
For us, you know, it's a
realization that we have to
maybe invest our time a
little bit better than we do.
>> David: They may be
the focus of the experiment.
But the experiment is
all of us.
The experiment's me.
The experiment's every
family that you see out there.
So many of us are doing
exactly what they are doing.
>> You open your apps...
>> David: So what about the
companies that helped turn us
into guinea pigs?
Facebook?
Won't do an interview, and
won't be offering a statement.
Instagram never
even responded to our requests.
YouTube says they're about
"building communities."
Musical.ly?
Declines too.
And Snapchat
won't go on the record.
Not so social after all.
Just down the
road from Snapchat,
Ramsay Brown is
still helping hook us.
But he also wants
to help warn us.
>> Now that this
technology exists,
what do we want out of it?
What do we want
out of ourselves?
'Cause really this is the
technology of shaping ourselves.
Who do we want to be?
>> David: If you need to
text and walk I can help you.
Words that should
make all of us look up
and maybe find
another way forward.
[ ♪♪ ]
>> David: Take a
ride undercover.
Inside car dealerships.
>> $112 biweekly
at 0%.
>> This is the trick.
>> The average
consumer sees that,
they think, "Oh, I can afford
that car."
>> It's an open loan.
You can pay it off
anytime you want.
>>It's troubling.
I want to go in there and
find out what's going on.
>> David: How not to buy a car.
[ ♪♪ ]
