A video of a woman in a public swimming pool in Sydney (Australia) has gone viral in recent days. The person filmed appears on a plank, with his arm outstretched, to continue “scrolling” on his phone. A behavior that is both funny and worrying, captured as the country prepares to ban young people under the age of 16 from social networks.
Recently, a video showing a woman in a swimming pool went viral. In a plank position, she advances in her swimming lane, flapping her feet. Only his face and his right hand protrude above the water, to hold… his cell phone.
The “swimmer”, who splashes around in the pool at the Bondi Icebergs nation club in Sydney (Australia), scrolls through content on her screen, and even appears to take a photo. Two swimming lanes to the right, two swimmers appear to be competing in a crawl race. Two rooms, two atmospheres.
A video that went viral
On Instagram, some are protesting, calling on the woman to put down her phone to “enjoy the present moment”. Someone considers the scene rather sad, while others try to find a logical explanation for these images.
Maybe the woman is filming content to share with subscribers, related to swimming? More annoying, maybe she’s on YouTube, watching a tutorial on how to swim? An Internet user plays devil’s advocate, claiming that this woman has “Maybe she has a family, and this is her only moment of respite.”
Nomophobia
The urge to hang out on our phone can be irresistible. Some have even given a name, nomophobia, to talk about the anxiety linked to the absence of a telephone. This problem is particularly serious among 18-24 year olds, “who develop more nomophobia than other age groups”according to Eric Lim, a lecturer at the University of New South Wales, cited by the Daily Mail.
To try to stem the problem, Australia has planned to ban social networks for young people under the age of 16. Meta, behind Facebook and Instagram, began this Thursday, December 4, to delete the accounts of Australian users under 16 years old.
