Kumla Bibliotek

Almost everyone is doing it. Aimlessly scrolling through their social media feeds. From presidents to the postmen, most people you know and probably even yourself. Mindlessly, your fingers move across the screen, and content, from selfies to memes, flickers by at a blistering pace. Why is it that the screen sometimes seems more important than looking up and being present in real life? And what does it mean that more and more people are turning into so-called 'Scroll Zombies'?

Sven Rollenhagen thoughtfully discusses social media use and how it affects us both psychologically and physically. How the rise of social media has created an onslaught of mental health problems in young people. And how withdrawal can lead to symptoms, not unlike those caused by more familiar dependencies such as drugs and alcohol. But, are we really addicted? And if so, how can we be cured?

Rollenhagen does not advocate for throwing away your phone or logging off Instagram forever, he acknowledges the powerful connection that social media has in connecting friends, family and strangers across the globe. Instead, this book contains practical tips and solutions for kicking dependency and finding true digital balance.


Sven Rollenhagen is a social worker specialising in the digital ad-diction of video games, social media and mobile phones. He works as a councellor, lecturer and writer in these fields. Sven’s strength as an expert in digital issues is that he is in touch with reality – as a councellor and lecturer for families and schools. He is also a friend of technology, plays online and is a frequent user of social media.

Sven is based in Sweden but has clients all over the world