The Search for Self(ie)

This paper examines the impact of smartphone use on the developing personality. While holding in mind the potentially positive aspects of smartphone engagement, such as providing solace and support to marginalised groups, the paper focuses on the idea that excessive smartphone use by children and adolescents can impair development by providing a source of constant distraction, inhibiting the capacity to manage transitions and solitude, limiting offline creativity. Central to the paper is the understanding that adolescence heralds a period in which much of the infantile stage may be re-enacted or forged anew to support development. By juxtaposing the distance between an adolescent’s outstretched arm when posing for a selfie and the physical space between a parent and their babe in arms, the paper probes the underlying motivations behind excessive selfie-posting and considers the longer-term effect to the individual when most of this online feedback is based on filtered pictures that do not represent a realistic self. This paper also explores the effect of the increasing amount of time parents spend on digital devices: if, optimally, the infant builds a concept of self through their experience of what is reflected to them through their primary carer’s eyes, what is the consequence of the carer’s constant checking of their phone? The paper concludes by considering how mental health professionals might support parents to navigate the role of technology in their children’s lives.