Technology: SMS pings back to life to cut out digital noise

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Internet in India Report 2023 report by not-for-profit industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) showed that internet users in India have crossed the 800 million mark. Ninety per cent of them use the internet daily, spending an average of 1.5 hours. Apart from consuming OTT content, communication remains one of the top activities done on the internet in India.

A recent study by the Boston Consultancy Group revealed that 50% Indian users reach out for their smartphone unintentionally, without any clear action or choice of app. A telling stat, given how many of us have made a habit of looking at our phones for notifications. Amitabh Kumar, founder and director, Social & Media Matters, a Delhi-based non-profit that works on tech public policy, online safety and digital parenting, says that while there’s a lot of discussion in the tech industry about smartphone notifications it’s clear that they are a huge distraction.

“In the mind, and there are multiple theories about this, it’s just like somebody calling out your name," he adds. On some users still sticking to SMS, he says: “This reminds me of the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The context: what are the choices we make? For the slow thinkers, SMS and emails are the way to go," he adds.

“For fast thinkers, that might be too slow. They want the blue ticks; they want to see you typing," he explains. John, who briefly tried WhatsApp on a second number but gave up using it, says he finds the intermingling of personal and professional communication on messaging services difficult to manage.

“There’s also this pressure to be on every group. It keeps drawing you back to your phone," he adds. There’s still a long way to go before traditional