Essay: The Negative Effects of Mobile Phones on Adolescents and Society

A device as small as a credit card, has more computational power than the advanced computers than a generation ago – this technological device is the mobile phone. Evidently today’s mobile phone constitutes more than just a medium for communication, it has become an important facet of everyday life so much so that it has shifted from being a technological object to a key social object that has been intricately woven into everyday life. According to the Oxford Online Dictionary, the word ‘mobile’ can be defined as, “able to move, or to be moved freely or easily.” (http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/mobile?view=uk accessed December 1 2006)
The functionality of the mobile phone depicts this definition however, the definition of the word mobile phone is fast becoming much more complex. Traditionally, the mobile phone was primarily designed, used and marketed as a business-oriented device. Today in contrast, the mobile phone is an emerging important tool for personal communication with social and cultural significance in society. The mobile phone has become a symbol in itself, an object of desire for many which enables the expression of individuality, particularly amongst adolescents.
There are multiple, overlapping consumption and uses of the mobile phone both in the social and cultural life. In sum, this essay will explore the negative societal effects of this technological device particularly towards the adolescents.

“Current statistics indicate that 2 billion people currently have subscriptions for Cellular Phones.” (http://www.web.mit.edu/comm-forum/forums/cell_phones_culture.htm accessed December 1st, 2006)


This illustrates that society has become dependant on this device designed originally solely for communication. Mobile phones have been intricately woven into our everyday lives it has created a new subculture that is heavily reliant on this technological advancement that changes, “the way people meet, mate, work, fight, buy, sell, govern and create” (Rheingold 2002. p. 18) and furthermore defy political agendas. An example of this is the overthrow of Philippines ex-President Joseph Estrada in 2001 in which the people congregated a mob through waves of text messages to topple the Estrada regime. Another example which occurred on Australian soil is the Cronulla riots in Sydney which used text messages to organize the riots; this clearly illustrates the enormity of mobile phone text messages or more commonly known as ‘SMS’ and the ever-increasing subculture of phone users. This subculture has been referred to as ‘smart-mobs.’ Rheingold suggests that a new group of ‘smart-mobs’ “consists of people who are able to act in concert even if they don’t know each other” this allows the group to gain power by numbers. This sort of congregation presents a threat to society if the power is misused.
Text messages have the power to unite individuals to fight for a cause although this form of communication is very detached from any forms of human emotions. Without a doubt the mobile phone broadens and enhances the sheer volume of communications; however does it actually improve the quality of communication?
With the introduction and increase popularity of mobile phone and text messages, physical communication and face-to-face interaction has been substituted. Some people are even using mobile phone as a tool in carrying out relationships. “Although the quantity of communication has increased through the anywhere and anytime functionality of the mobile phone, it has decreased the qualitative aspect of communication.” (Srivastava, 2005. p. 124)
Physical principle elements of human interaction such as body language and facial expression to name just a few have been replaced by text messages such as :) depicting happiness or a smile whereas ‘lol’ the abbreviations for ‘laughing out loud.’ “Some sociologists argue that texting teenagers run the risk of affecting their capacity to interact with each other on a voice or face-to-face basis: many choose to text rather than to talk, particularly in awkward or emotionally-charged situations.” (Srivastava, 2005. p. 124) Evidently text messages and mobile phones has introduced a more convenient way to communicate but in turn it has resulted in emotionless messages because of the limited characters each text message enables, this results in another dilemma/disadvantage of text messaging. “Young peer groups often differentiate themselves by the type of abbreviations they use while texting…this popularity of texting among the young is having an impact on their ability to spell and conjugate verbs.” (Haddon 2002, BBC News 2004).

The mobile phone age has had a considerable impact on the values of today’s society and in turn has created a ‘impulsive society.’ Since text messaging is a commonplace nowadays it can be seen that the need for social etiquette has become less important. Prior to this technology people were more punctual in setting appointments however setting an approximate time to meet is fast becoming standard practice with the aid of text messaging. “The habit of ‘keeping opinions open’ or the multi-meeting has also been enhanced by mobile phones.” (Srivastava, 2005. p. 124) This allowed users to decide whether to attend the meeting or not which is usually within the hour before the appointed time. This can be seen as a selfish behaviour. Another point to be considered is the use of mobile phones in public places. Numerous establishments frown upon users that instigate a conversation at a high volume disregarding other patrons. In Japan, signs have been put up prompting users to switch their phones to silent mode so that it does not disrupt others. SMS texting is the preferred alternative to voice calls in this type of situation.

Unmistakably mobile phone has affected society, nonetheless on closer inspection it can be seen that adolescents have been dominantly affected by this technological advancement further. Inconceivably adolescents use the mobile phone as a tool for communication, a fashion accessory in which aids in representing themselves and as an escape apparatus from parents. “The mobile phone has indeed become the most intimate aspect of a user’s personal sphere of object…for example keys, wallet, money etc…it gives users the impression they are constantly connected to the world outside, and therefore less alone.” (Srivastava, 2005. p. 113) Measurement of adoration and worthiness is manifested as some adolescents’ measure by the amount of text messages they receive from fellow peers. Adolescents are unhealthily getting obsessed with their mobile phones. In contrast enabling adolescents in encompassing mobile phones gives parents a false sense of security. Inclusion to this belief is that adolescents are able to screen incoming phone calls in which enable them the choice and freedom of answering the call or to simply reject it.
Interestingly, mobile phones have been suggested in aiding in shaping adolescents identities. Mobile phones have somewhat become a symbol of status. Many youth ‘show off’ their mobile phones to their peers in hopes of belonging to the ‘in’ club. They enhance their mobile phones by downloading new ringtones and wallpapers which they think suit their personality. Manufacturers have caught on to this craze and offers a variety of brightly coloured mobile covers and ‘skinz’ to match the individuals outfit at the time. Mobile phone giants have gone one step further to create ‘designer’ mobiles which feature such craziness as fur linings, embedded gems and leather coverings just to name a few. An example of this is the mobile phone manufacturer ‘Motorola’ which produced a gold version of their V3 model that features the brand name D&G, this enables users to represent themselves as highly fashionably individuals furthermore this illustrates to society that status is of great importance.

With technological devices such as the Internet and mobile phones, face-to-face interaction and communication seems to be diminishing. Clearly technological devices present society both with advantages and disadvantages, and the mobile phone is not excluded from this. The increased convenience of the mobile phone presents to society is apparent ;however on a private spectrum it affects society in various ways and continues to do so especially towards adolescents whom which have embraced this technological advancement and have embedded this device into their lifestyles. With the aid of mobile phones, society is fast becoming a society which is isolated from real human emotions and settling despondently to text messages to reflect their emotions and thoughts. This essay only scraped the surface of the pinnacle of the mobile phone phenomenon, clearly there is much more to learn from the evolving technologies that shape our future.


References

Ito, M. Mobile Phones, Japanese Youth, and the Re-Placement of Social Contact pp.1-15 (accessed November 20th, 2006, from ProQuest Journal)

Srivastava, L. 2005. Mobile phones and the evolution of social behaviour pp. 111-129 (accessed November 20th, 2006, from ProQuest Journal)

BBC News. 2004. txt mightier than the word?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2814235.stm (accessed December 1st. 2006)

Oxford English Dictionary Online.
http://www.askoxford.com/ (accessed December 1st, 2006)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
http://www.web.mit.edu/comm-forum/forums/cell_phones_culture.htm (accessed December 1st, 2006)

Rheingold, H. 2002. Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.
Perseus Publishing: USA

Bibliography

Mc Guigan, J. 2005. Towards a sociology of the Mobile Phone pp. 45-57 (accessed November 20th, 2006, from ProQuest Journal)

The Age. 2004. 89% of teens have mobiles: survey. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/28/1096137210796.html (accessed December 3rd, 2006)

The Age. 2004. Japan teen like cute little mobiles http://www.theage.com.au/news/Technology/Japan-teens-like-cute-little-mobiles/2004/12/24/1103825078456.html (accessed December 5th, 2006)

Course Evaluation

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course. Since i'm a third year IT student, i found the topics to be very interesting and the tasks to be quite easy. Adam is a knowledgable lecturer and i liked the fact of him bringing in guest lecturers such as Jason Nelson and Stephen Stockwell. I also found that the movies shown in class tie in nicely with the topics that were discussed throughout the fornight. I, personally, do not think there can be much improvements made to this course. This is probably one of my favourite subjects that i have done throughout my tertiary studies.
I recommend my peers to take up this course as they will surely enjoy it as much as i did.

Tutorial 9 Task

I found this tutorial to be quite simple to understand and do. I have had quite a bit of experince with using Powerpoint due to numerous presentations that I have to do for several courses.
However, this exercise might stump beginners to Powerpoint but after they dabble in it, then it should be easy to use its various functionalities.

Lecture 9 Summary

In today's lecture we discussed the various Electronic Media Ages and how they evolved.

The first Electronic Medai Age involves Centralised Dissemination.

In which was primarily based on the concept of having more than one source but many receivers in return.
Because of this concept the network is very limited, the basis for this limitation is due to the educational, technical and financial boundaries which limited the capacity to send and receive messages from others.

The second Electronic Media Age involves Decentralised Interaction.

The concept of this era was that varioius people are able to talk to several people at the same time, however restrictions were still evident for instance internet aswell as computer literacy limits the amount of people whom can access this technology. On the otherhand clearly the internet has one major advantage as it enables users to illustrate their views and opinions freely to a global audience.

The other topics discussed in this lecture which I found to be quite interesting were the concepts of Utopia.

Utopia, a world of perfection - living harmoniously with technology. This statement introduces various questions.

Could this world ever exist?
Does our present world depict this idea of utopianism?
What are the complexities and limitations of such a world?

Are the machines and technology that humans continue to develop eventually lead to a surreal world of utopianism in the future?

Technology should not be developed to the stage where it can overthrow the human race. Humans should have full controll over technology. They are created to better our existence not hinder it.

Lecture 8 Summary

During the first half of today's lecture we watched a film called ExisTenZ. Set in the near future with technologies such as Virtual Reality Gaming, ExisTenZ presents its audience with the positive and negative aspects of this advance technology. The film ending gives the audience the feeling of being disconnected from reality without ever really knowing if the lives we live are real or just a system that we are ported into. I find that some concepts of this movie are linked closely to those featured in the Matrix. They both prompt viewers to question their existence. Are we slaves to our technological advancements? Are we living in the Matrix?

The second half of today's lecture Professor Stephen Stockwell discussed the themes of Democracy. Democracy can be broadly defined as a way we represent ourselves, it is a chance to state one's opinion. However with this free will of expression the Greeks experience exclusion of citizenship especially amongst slaves and women, clearly illustrating the unjust democracy of that era. The influence of Athens however soon spread to Europe during the 17th and 18th Centuries which prompted changes in France and Britain which can be said to be the foundation of the democracy we know today.
In today's democracy we practice the Freedom of Speech through various means such as the Representative Government this country is ruled by. In contrast the Media has been claimed to be a corporate government organisation that filters the news and illustrate certain opinions to society. In relation to the Internet, this technological application has enabled users to participate and deliver their opinions freely and self-debate, example of these include Blogs and Forums. Clearly the Internet is valuable as it empowers people to search for others opinions aswell as formulating their own.

Is the Internet an effective way to demonstrate democracy?

The Internet provides skills in self-efficiency, training users that in order to produce results one must work hard as Professor Stockwell states, "keep hacking at it" which applies directly to hackers. Stockwell views hackers a somewhat positive outlook and are not neccesarily deviants of society unless they are crackers (Criminal Hackers).

Are hackers training for a new type of democracy?

The Internet not only enable users to have skills in self-efficiency but also encourages users to use the Internet for political change. He gave a couple of examples on how normal people, without Web experience, can use the Internet as a tool for gathering opinions of people and use it to combat the government.

This lecture has given me the chance to view democracy in a new and invigorating light. It has prompted me to read thoroughly into cyber democracy.

Tutorial 8 Task

This task I found to be very easy, being a University student we have had exposure to Microsoft Word frequently however it helped me to hone my skills in word processing even more. In contrast the mail merge section was interesting because i have had minimal experience with it.

Possible Essay Topic

I was thinking of some essay topics that i could do for the essay and came up with a few ideas.

"The Effects of Mobile Phones and on Social Behaviour"

This will be an interesting topic with lots of sources i could reference to.
Nowadays it seems that everyone possesses a mobile phone and many cannot live without one. It has become a social norm which has its positives and negatives.