Book Review: Smartphone Nation by Dr. Kaitlyn Regehr

Parenting has always been difficult. As times have changed, so has parenting and the challenges it presents. These days, among the chief concerns for parents is technology and their children’s relationship to it.

This is the complex topic Dr. Kaitlyn Regher seeks to simplify in her recent book, Smartphone Nation: Why We’re All Addicted to Screens and What You Can Do About It. Her book combines academic research with practical solutions for modern parents.

The book starts by unpacking our societal relationship with technology and screens over the past few decades. Every generation has had to grapple with new innovations, from the automobile to cable television. But the internet and mobile devices have pushed our technological dependence to new and frightening levels.

We are the products, not the customers

Some of the perspectives Dr. Regher presents in the book aren’t new to me (as a digital marketer) but may be revelatory for some parents, and it's a helpful reminder for us all.

Namely, that social media platforms like Facebook aren’t themselves products but platforms for advertisers to use us as products. These apps have been designed to be as addictive as possible and push content on us, engineered to captivate our attention…