NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Do you check your phone at least 40 times a day? How about sleeping with or next to your phone at night? Are you the one in five who would rather go a week without shoes, than take a break from your phone? Then you may be one of the 66 percent of adults who have nomophobia. That is the fear of being without your mobile device.
Courtney ‘Coko’ Eason spent the beginning of her career as a hype girl.
Eason told Ivanhoe, “I’m the one who comes out, gets everybody up, hands in the air, dancing, screaming.”
But then she noticed year after year crowd participation was at an all-time low. The culprit?
“The cellphone. Everybody was too busy, scrolling, texting, filming the entire performance, instead of living in the moment,” Eason said.
So, Eason turned her frustration into innovation by creating the Milk App. The app allows users to gain points by not using their phones in certain restaurants, movie theaters, and music venues.
“You begin to accrue points every minute the phone is not in use.”
The points can later be redeemed for gift certificates, discounts, or other swag at participating businesses. With a 40 thousand dollar grant from Google and help from designer Alex Hamilton, the app launched in July 2018 in Nashville. There were three thousand downloads within the first month.
Jocelyn Youngdahl told Ivanhoe, “I’ve been in situations where I’m with my friends and you look around and we’re watching a movie, but we’re still all on our phones.”
Instead the app…
“Encourages us to have deeper conversations, engage more when we are together and not just be staring at our screens,” Youngdahl said.
“We know phones are important tools for us today, but when there are special moments going on, we’re trying to encourage people to put the phone away.”
And milk the moment. Eason has expanded the app to other areas. It can now be used anywhere and at any time now. Along with gift cards and discounts, users can also redeem points for products and services. To download the latest version of the app go to the App Store or Google Play Store and search for the Milk App.
Contributor(s) to this news report include: Milvionne Chery, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and, Editor.
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