Technology has completely changed how we live our lives, and it’s happening at an ever-increasing rate. Our worlds are completely different from the world of even 10 years ago. This obviously has resulted in differences in the way we work and play, but did you know it’s even changed the way we have sex?

10Netflix Adultery

A new issue causing strife between couples is “Netflix adultery”: watching TV shows and movies alone that they promised their partner they would watch together. Twelve percent of those surveyed said they do it, and 59 percent of cheaters even reveal spoilers, which means that more than 7 percent of us are dating huge jerks.

Netflix’s director of public relations Jenny McCabe says that couples are reporting some serious drama over the phenomenon, commenting “We hear people say, ‘We made a pact, we were going to watch this together.’ ” It’s a real violation of trust and lack of consideration that can cause tension every bit as real as fights over money or other relationship matters.

9Internet Infidelity

The Internet has made actual infidelity easy and guiltless. Cybersex offers a convenience and anonymity that can prove too tempting for many to resist, even if they have someone who is generally willing to have sex with them right there in the other room. There’s no physical contact, so what’s the problem? It’s not like cybersex is really cheating, right?

Wrong: 77 percent of people surveyed said that cybersex infidelity is unacceptable. Despite the many reasons a cheater could use to rationalize their activities, an overwhelming majority of people agree that cheating is cheating, period. This new and puzzling gray area is such a big problem that it was responsible for a full third of divorce cases in 2009.

8We’re All Creepy Stalkers

The Internet has given us unprecedented access to the personal lives of prospective and past partners, and boy are we making use of it. Almost 90 percent of us admit to “stalking” the social networking activities of our ex-partners, and 60 percent of us admit to doing so to a crush.

This can have catastrophic effects on our well-being, because the information often doesn’t fully satisfy our curiosity and causes even more anxiety. Stalking an ex can significantly hamper our recovery from the breakup, and even spur us to make really bad decisions like hopping back into bed with them (yes, scientists actually studied this stuff). It might be best to keep them out of feed, out of mind.

7 Fear Of Intimacy

Harvard professor Craig Malkin has coined the term “cybercelibacy” to describe the increasing number of people who turn to online games and networks to satisfy their social needs without having to face scary real people. It creates a vicious cycle, he explains, where people aren’t forced to face their anxieties about relationships, which makes those anxieties grow and causes them to retreat further.

How bad is the problem, exactly? Well, 28 percent of people surveyed admitted that they spend less time with meatspace friends in favor of online activities, and almost as many (20 percent) say they’re having less sex. It turns out that going outside occasionally is a really important step to taking up residence in someone else’s underpants.

6Facebook Provokes Your Jealousy

Following your partner’s Facebook feed creates needless jealousy, one study says. Even after controlling for other factors (that’s science for “weeding out the crazy people whose unbridled jealousy would exist either way”), the study found that the more time you spend reading your partner’s boring status updates, the more likely you are to turn into a raging psycho.

This happens because a good chunk of your partner’s social interaction becomes visible to you, but you don’t have those in-person cues that gives the exchange context. For example, when your lady’s gay co-worker or the best friend who loves her like a sister leaves an innocent “You look great!” on her picture, they know it’s a harmless compliment—but all you see is some dude hitting on your girlfriend.

5 Too Many Points Of Contact

A lack of communication can be a big problem in a relationship, but one study suggests that communicating too much can be a strain as well. A survey of 24,000 married people found that using more than five channels (such as social media, texting, instant messaging, etc.) to communicate with your partner actually decreases relationship satisfaction.

The stress of never being more than a series of ones and zeroes away from your partner and monitoring so many incoming data streams is a killer. Think about how easy it is to step over that threshold. You follow your partner’s Facebook and Twitter feed, obviously, and of course they have your phone number for calling and texting—if you regularly use even one more communication tool, you’re screwed.

4The Online Pornsplosion

With porn so easily accessible, convenient, and increasingly hardcore, many women are feeling either neglected or pressured to adhere to male-centric sexual scripts that they don’t enjoy. It turns out that many ladies don’t actually enjoy being sprayed in the face or poked in the butt (acts that are simply a matter of course in even mainstream porn nowadays) but feel like they have to if they want to please their man.

That is, if they’re being asked to please them at all: More women are reporting that they can’t compete with the blonde, tanned, and augmented video vixens, and their partners neglect them in favor of prerecorded thrills. It’s never a good thing if one person is unhappy with the naked-time routine, but the problem is so bad that in 2003, it was reported that online porn played a major role in a quarter of all divorce cases that year (and we’re pretty sure the amount of porn available hasn’t decreased any since then).

3 Gadgets

Some people are literally addicted to their smartphones; they can’t even leave the room without carrying them around like a colicky baby. Or maybe you like to bring your laptop to bed for some late-night work, or even just watch a little Letterman before tucking in. Well, all of those things could be wreaking havoc on your sex life, studies show. The mere act of having a phone nearby is so distracting that we can’t focus on the person we’re with, and simply having a TV in the bedroom can cut the amount of sex you have in half.

2 Dubious ‘Matching Algorithms’

Matching algorithms, such as those used by OkCupid and eHarmony, use questionnaire information about users’ personality and interests, which may help the strangers find things to talk about, but won’t in any way guarantee relationship success. Hold on, you say, isn’t it important that my partner likes Star Wars and skydiving as much as I do? If I end up with a scaredy cat who hates sci-fi, how are we even supposed to relate to each other?

Actually, the former has little to do with the latter. The way two individuals interact with each other specifically—i.e., plain ol’ chemistry—is the best indication of a good match, something that can’t be determined until two people meet. Maybe that overly cautious person keeps you grounded without holding you back, or the foreign film nut knows intuitively just what kind of support you need when you’ve had a bad day. Furthermore, the sites encourage users to objectify potential partners, “shopping” for matches based on these superficial and insignificant traits.

1Googling Your Date

There’s really no such thing as a blind date anymore: 48 percent of women will not hesitate to Google you before they agree to go out with you, and just as many are willing to decline if they find unsavory information. Sure, some serious bullets can be dodged this way, like if you find your potential date’s incoherent, violent blog about his serial killer fantasies, but in many cases, you might be rejecting your soulmate based on a false (or at least meaningless) representation.

According to one study, the more information we dig up about our suitors, the more likely we are to reject them. You might think that just saves everyone some time—you’re going to find out about her online shrine to Hanson eventually, right?—but before you judge too harshly, take a minute to Google yourself. Did anything potentially off-putting come up? That embarrassingly naive op-ed piece about Objectivism you wrote for your college newspaper, say, or videos of your misguided attempt at hip-hop superstardom? How representative are those things of you as a person?

The fact is, someone who’s had a chance to get to know all the virtues and quirks that come packed in the you-shaped bundle is probably going to find those things endearing, but someone whose first impression of you has been based on them is going to run away screaming. As study coauthor Joanna Frost, PhD., says, “Your disillusionment with someone during a conversation might take hours, during which your date has the opportunity to explain himself, whereas online that disillusionment can happen almost instantly.” So give that freak a chance to explain herself over a beer—it might just be a charming quirk in an otherwise flawless package.

Manna writes and wrongs from sunny Portland, Oregon. Check her out on Cracked, Twitter, and her blog.

Occasionally, you may see Internet posts that challenge you to binge-watch your favorite TV show or channel. Best of all, you get paid if you’re selected and complete the challenge.

In 2019, Internet Service Partners promoted a competition to award $1,000 to one person to watch 24 Hallmark Christmas movies within 12 days. The winner had to submit a personal critique on each movie and update her social media followers throughout the experience.

Similarly, in honor of the 15-year anniversary of The Office, the TV provider Dish is now inviting people to apply for a chance to watch 15 hours of the beloved series for $1,000. Only one lucky viewer will be selected. (We’ll give you the link to apply in entry one of this list.)

Although these contests are genius marketing tools by the companies, should we condone having people spend even more hours in front of their television screens? As easy as it is to binge-watch your favorite shows, doing so may be ruining your health.

10 Ways Watching TV Is Killing You

10 It Can Dull Your Brain

If you frequently binge on Netflix, the hours you spend in front of the tube may be seriously damaging your brain.

According to Healthline, viewing more than three hours of television every day may eventually lead to cognitive impairment related to your memory and language skills. Although it probably seemed safe as a child to indulge in a few hours of TV time after school, you may have been doing more harm than you realized.^[1]

For one, watching over 3.5 hours of TV each day wastes time that could be better spent on more intellectually stimulating activities like reading or playing board games. If binge-watching is your go-to hobby, you may want to consider reading a book instead.

9 You Isolate Yourself For Hours On End

Most households are equipped with more than one television for viewing pleasure. With so many devices and shared streaming accounts, everyone in the house can watch different programs without disturbing each other. You can easily isolate yourself in a house full of people by being glued to your devices.

According to Psychology Today, a MarketCast survey in the US indicated that 56 percent of participants prefer to binge-watch by themselves, which makes it easier to lose track of time. Watching TV in groups or with a partner can help you from getting too deep into the binge.^[2]

8 You Suffer From A Lack Of Fresh Air And Vitamin D

Congratulations. At this point, you’ve possibly damaged your brain while separating yourself from the rest of the world due to your obsessive relationship with The Office.

But your compulsive binge-watching may also deprive you of natural light. According to an article in Time, staying indoors all day could mess with your circadian clock, a biochemical regulator of your sleep, appetite, and energy.^[3]

Spending more time in nature can improve your mood and mental health. In fact, if you’re feeling anxious and depressed, it’s most likely due to your excessive binge-watching habit. Consider taking a walk outside a few times a day at the very least.

7 Binge-Watching Also Means Binge Eating

Are you gaining weight and unsure if the junk food stash next to your bed is the culprit?

It probably is. Remember how deprivation from the outside world may make you feel depressed? In turn, this can cause you to binge eat. According to WebMd, binge eating can be triggered by anger, anxiety, boredom, sadness, and other negative emotions.^[4]

Even though the comedy of The Office will make you smile the whole way through, bingeing on the show can still evoke certain emotions that will make you reach for the cookies. Keep this in mind the next time you bypass the fruits and vegetables in the grocery store and go down the junk food aisle.

6 A Regular Exercise Routine Is Thrown Out The Window

According to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, sitting for long periods of time may raise your risk of heart disease and death. If your only form of exercise these days is walking to get the remote you left on the other side of the room, you are doing your body a serious disservice.

Any amount of activity is better than sitting, even if you are only stepping away for 30 minutes at a time. Doing chores or any light activity may reduce your risk of death by 17 percent. As a side benefit, you can eliminate that dirty laundry pile that’s been taking over your bathroom.^[5]

Top 10 Murders Caused By TV Shows

5 You Find It Difficult To Focus On Work Or Other Tasks

Sometimes, when you’re in the middle of a good show, you may find yourself thinking about what will happen next. Even when you’re just gabbing with your friends, you may end up talking about the new show you are watching. It can be super distracting even when you don’t have the TV turned on.

Stepping away from binge-watching can do more than increase your time for outdoor activities. It can also help clear your mind—allowing you to focus on more important tasks than whatever show you’re obsessed with that week.^[6]

4 You Get Very Lazy

Typically, when you get really engrossed in a show, all your attention is focused on the screen. In that moment, you are not doing laundry or scrubbing the tub out of fear that you might miss something. This leads to an epic train of laziness that’s hard to overcome.^[7]

When you go on a relaxing vacation or stay at home because you’re sick for an extended period, it’s always harder at the end to resume your daily routine. Same goes for insane binge-watching. You get trapped. It’s like the lyrics from that old Eagles’ song Hotel California:

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door,
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before,
‘Relax,’ said the night man,
‘We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!’

3 You Have Difficulty Sleeping

Some people turn to the TV to help them fall asleep at night. While it may work for some individuals, SleepEducation.org reports that 88 percent of adults have sacrificed sleep to binge-watch television.^[8]

This can negatively impact your health by reducing your quality of sleep, increasing insomnia, and making you more alert before you go to bed.

2 Your Body Gets Stiff From Lack Of Movement

Unless you are someone who frequently watches TV while walking on a treadmill, the same risks arise from binge-watching television as from sitting at your desk at work all day. Experts at the Mayo Clinic found that sitting for over eight hours each day without engaging in other physical activity carries a death risk like that of smoking and obesity.^[9]

The Mayo doctors recommend that you take an activity break every half hour to avoid long-term sitting. That’s one good thing about commercial breaks: They give you the opportunity to step away from the TV without missing your show.

1 You Put Yourself In A Binge-Watching Cycle That Doesn’t End

It’s a vicious cycle. You start watching one episode. Before you know it, five hours have gone by and you are halfway through a series. You didn’t expect to get this far into the Netflix vortex, but here you are.

Just starting that first episode can be dangerous, especially if it’s a captivating show that keeps you from going to sleep. Or maybe you’re getting paid $1,000 to binge-watch The Office.^[10]

Usually, you should set a time limit as to how much TV you will watch before turning in. Or stick to viewing a movie at night that is guaranteed to end within a couple of hours. That way, you won’t get sucked into a binge.

The announcement of several new streaming services is tempting us to never leave our homes again. So you may not drop your unhealthy binge-watching habit cold turkey. However, these health risks are scary enough to make us want to step away from the screen for at least short periods of time.

Although it’s easier said than done, we’re optimistic that we can pull ourselves away from the TV screen if we do it together. Until then, tell us in the comments about your binge-watching experiences.

10 Real-Life Murderers Who Were Influenced By Dexter Morgan

About The Author: Courtney is a writer, fitness enthusiast, Advent yogi, and your go-to girl for all the latest celebrity news. She also has an embarrassing obsession with awards shows.

The smartphone. Everyone has one these days. Most can’t live without these devices. Too bad that we all seem to love them a little bit too much. As we’ve discussed previously, it’s almost like we’re living in the middle of a smartphone zombie plague.

If it was an option and we didn’t discard our phones every other year, we might just marry them. Why is it that we all use them so much, yet are so oblivious to the harm they can cause in our lives?

10 When’s The Last Time You Had A Good Night’s Sleep?

How many times have you gone to bed, only to grab your phone and start checking the news, emails, or social media? Or maybe you want to take one last hit of that addictive game you found the other day?

All those apps are stealing sleep from us. When we go to bed, our phones should as well. But that never happens. As we lie there, we hear the sweet siren call of that little unassuming device. Before we know it, our smartphones are back in control and entertaining us with information.

That’s not all a smartphone does, though. No, it needs more than just information. It needs a way to influence us and push back the tiredness and the night. By shining just a little blue light from its screen, it can suppress melatonin and stimulate our brains. Now we don’t feel tired anymore and can pay more attention to our phones.^[1]

With all that additional focus, we can really get into that game and get some adrenaline flowing through our systems. Or we can read through those emails and feel the stress from our colleagues telling us just what new nightmares are headed our way at work tomorrow.

Even when we’re done with our phones, all that adrenaline or stress makes our minds too busy to think about sleep. So we lie in bed bored. Eventually, the boredom is too much so we go back to our smartphones. Before long, it’s time to get up and start another day.

9 Loved Ones Don’t Want To Compete For Our Attention

It’s known as phubbing. Focusing on our smartphones instead of engaging romantically with our loved ones is a big problem. Our smartphones were supposed to bring people together and make the world more connected.

But sometimes, it may bring the wrong people together at the wrong time. While we are busy connecting to coworkers, friends on the other side of the world, or that unknown opponent we are currently crushing, we are distant from the people in the same room with us.^[2]

When our loved ones want to connect with us but can’t pull us away from our phones, they’re not happy. If we cannot give the people in our relationships the time and attention they deserve, they are rightfully discontented. Everyone’s relationship satisfaction suffers, and our loved ones will often feel jealous of our smartphones.

If so, our relationships will not be strong. Furthermore, if we can’t pry ourselves away from our phones long enough to notice and fix these problems, how can our human relationships survive? Before we know it, our relationships with our smartphones will be the only meaningful ones we have left.

8 We Can’t Actually Talk To Someone These Days

Long ago, people would interact with each other through face-to-face communication. With the intimacy and bonds produced by that type of social contact, people were able to connect with each other and build strong relationships.

Over time, technology has become a middleman in our conversations, whether through emails, text messages, self-checkout machines, or social media. In so many situations, people don’t directly communicate with each other anymore.

The use of smartphones has been linked to loneliness and shyness in individuals. It’s tough when you are lonely and crave interactions with others, yet you are too shy to actually go out and make those contacts. A study of 414 university students in China showed that the more lonely and shy a person was, the more likely he was to be addicted to his smartphone.^[3]

7 The Joneses Aren’t Just The People On Our Street Anymore

Ever been on social media? Ever seen all the beautiful, picture-perfect moments that people post? All the places they visit and cool toys that they buy?

There’s an old saying about the need to keep up with the Joneses—traditionally those in our neighborhoods whom we use as a benchmark for the social class we want to maintain.

The Joneses have a shiny, new luxury car? What will people think about my 10-year-old sedan with a bit of rust creeping up the door? They are having an elaborate party for their child complete with bouncy castle? How do I make sure that my kid doesn’t see me as a failure at his next party if I can’t afford that?

Unfortunately, smartphones and the Internet have greatly expanded our neighborhoods. Instead of just looking at our neighbors every time we leave or come home, our smartphones are letting us peer into the lives of hundreds of “friends” all around the world.

Every time we unlock our phones, we are greeted with new posts showing all the amazing things happening to people around the world. Then we look up and see that our reality doesn’t match what’s on the phone. Unfortunately, this leads to debt, stress, and depression when we believe that we can’t keep up with everyone else.^[4]

6 FOMO

Along with keeping up with the Joneses is FOMO (“fear of missing out”). This is when we see people doing or getting something new or exciting. It electrifies us, and we want to get in there with everyone. There’s a fear that if we don’t do it now, the opportunity will be gone.

This concern can lead us to make impulse purchases and accept debt just so we are included in the experience of having this shiny new thing. These days, digital technology through smartphones constantly shows us shiny new objects that we can be a part of. The people and companies making these things are mastering how to foster the feeling of FOMO and make their products or services viral.

All of this can lead to reckless spending on unnecessary things. Then we feel depressed when we see the next shiny thing but realize we can no longer borrow enough money to grab it.^[5]

5 It’s Becoming The Most Expensive Member Of Our Household

Remember the days when you’d walk into a cell phone store, sign up for basic talk and text service, and get a free phone? Those days seem long gone. Now it’s all about talking us into the latest gadget that we can’t live without and that we’ll be upgrading in a year.

Smartphones cost us so much money. On average, a smartphone in North America is $567. Just for the phone. Don’t forget that we need a nice case to protect the phone, insurance if the case fails us, chargers everywhere, and paid apps to make those phones even more useful.

Phones increase in price at a rate of about 12 percent a year. In 2008, the iPhone sold for $499 and, in late 2018, the XS Max sold for $1,099. If prices continue to trend in that direction, we could be looking at spending over $5,000 for an iPhone 20 years from now.^[6]

Now let’s talk service. That basic talk and text package we used to enjoy years ago just won’t cut it now. Now we need unlimited data, too. All those apps we buy are data hungry. We generally spend around $80 a month for that.

4 Do We Even Remember Facts Anymore?

How many times has this happened to you: You’re with a group of people, and someone asks a question. No one knows the answer, so everyone whips out their smartphones to see who can find the answer first. Someone yells it out, gets the kudos for the best Google skills of the moment, and everyone moves on. Within minutes, everyone is on a different topic and is completely forgetting the answer to the earlier question.

In the past, getting answers was work. We needed to find and schedule time with an expert, go to the library and read a book, or experiment and figure it out for ourselves. All this work left a lasting impression on our minds and made the answer hard to forget. These days, information is so easily obtained that finding it is no longer an adventure.^[7]

Where we used to rely on ourselves and those with whom we have relationships to remember things, we now have our smartphones with Internet access to handle it for us.

What happens, though, when we are separated from our smartphones and they are not there to assist us when we need the information?

3 Can We Read A Map Or Drive Anywhere From Memory?

When some of us need to travel to a place we’ve never been or somewhere we don’t go often, our first step is to pull out our smartphones to get turn-by-turn directions. Long gone are the days of building a mental map from past experience and learning to find places through our own sense of direction. Even longer gone are the days of opening a paper map to draw a route to where we want to go.

Learning new routes and how to navigate on our own builds spatial maps in our brains. We understand the distances between places, where they are in relation to each other, and how to move from one place to another. We gain the ability to look at the world around us and actively plan our movements.

Unfortunately, with turn-by-turn directions always available through our smartphones, these spatial maps are often not well-built. We are focused on our phones instead of interpreting the world around us. Since we know that the directions will always be available to us in the future, we are far less likely to remember them on our own.^[8]

2 We Really Can Be Afraid Of Losing Access To Our Phones

Nomophobia is the fear of losing access to our smartphones whether through dead batteries, loss of signal, or loss of the entire phone itself. Research revealed four main sources that feed this fear: inability to communicate, lost connectedness, loss of access to information, and lost convenience.

Basically, we’re addicted. Our phones provide us with access to loved ones and answers to all our questions. These devices also remove so many roadblocks any time we want. Losing those capabilities leads to fears. We are all on our own.

It’s becoming serious. Thirty-eight percent of surveyed American teenagers said they didn’t think they could live one day without their smartphones. Seventy-one percent said the same about a week.^[9]

1 We Just Don’t Have Time To Get Anything Done Anymore

Do you ever feel like you just don’t have time anymore? Like the world has become so busy that it’s hard to keep up? How much do you use your smartphone?

We are all fairly attached to our smartphones. Those little devices are good at snatching our attention, making sure they are never far from us, and keeping us coming back often for any updates they might offer.

Perhaps our struggles with and management of time all start with our smartphones. Constantly getting all those little updates from our phones and then waiting and hoping for the next update releases a bit of dopamine in our brains. This makes us happy and excited and also keeps us coming back for more.^[10]

Looking for those hits of dopamine, we end up spending more time than we realize on our phones when we could be taking care of all those other things we never seem to have time for.

I’m a Computer Engineer who is fascinated by the world around us.