No More Phones for the Nomophobic
Breaking the technological chain that binds us
Are you addicted to your smartphone? Are you classified
as being Nomophobic? Yes, if you have not heard of the term, Nomophobia is a real thing.
It is an abbreviation of “no-mobile-phone phobia”, and it is spreading across
America at a blistering pace. Many who are Nomophobic do not even realize it,
or simply in denial. Ever leave the house without your smartphone? How did that
make you feel? Did you become anxious and thought about turning around even if
it would make you late getting to an appointment? Do you constantly text and
drive even though you know very well what the consequences may be? This is all
classic symptoms of no-mobile phone phobia.
The use of these devices are so widespread, and are
quickly replacing the cellphone as the primary device used for communication. A
recent
study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
backs up that statement. It found that 56 percent of American adults now own
smartphones today, with only 35 percent owning a non-smart cellular phone. If
we are not careful, we could end up like South Korea, a country that is dealing
with high percentages of smartphone addiction by its youth. The Wall Street
Journal has a great
article on this that discusses it further.
When
you really think about it, it’s understandable why someone would become anxious
when not having an “extension of themselves”. Just think about all the things
your phone can do; how much data you store on it; and how much you probably
rely on it to stay connected throughout the day. On my iPhone, I can check my
bank account, check email, take a look at my wedding photos, check all my
social accounts, FaceTime with mom, and order a newer phone from amazon. Talk
about putting all of your eggs in one basket. No wonder the movie theater has
to basically threaten movie goers in order to get them to put away their
smartphones right before the movie begins.
Allow me to post a YouTube link of a video that clearly
demonstrates the addiction, the attachment, and the Nomophobia. It's called "I Forgot My Phone", published by charstarleneTV.
This video, which
was just published recently, revolves around a young female and her boyfriend,
family, and friends. It begins by showing how she is clearly annoyed by the
boyfriend who is in bed on his phone, or when he is on the phone with someone
when he should be spending quality time with her. The video goes on to show
just how much this device has penetrated our lives and takes away those seconds,
minutes, hours, that could’ve been precious moments we could be spending with
family or friends in person.
It’s
essentially Smartphone addiction. Simply go to your favorite search engine and
type those words; you will find plenty of recent articles, studies, research,
and blog posts like this one that discusses Smartphone addiction in great
depth. I believe this is helping destroy the very fabric that connects a family
or community. It’s a distraction that is pulling our attention away from
moments that ultimately are more fulfilling, in my opinion. It’s not about what the device can do simply
from a technological standpoint; it doesn't have feet to stand on without the
content. So it is the convenience factor of it all. The Apple and Android app
stores gives us access to Facebook, instagram, tumblr, twitter, you name it.
The smartphone makes it so easy and gives us every excuse to take out a block
of time to check for any updates or emails. Problem is, for most, we do not
know how to simply take that block of time and then be done. That block quickly
turns into a boulder.
For
me, it is twofold when it comes to the action I believe is required. One is
creating a culture in America where there is a strong technological etiquette;
not only on how to use technology, but also when. Then you should have more
places where smartphones should simply be banned or not allowed. WE are all
pretty familiar with the places currently that do not allow the use of
smartphones, I think we need to add to that list. So I would like to ask the
art of cyber dribble posters and readers, what do you think needs to be done to
bring us all back down to earth? Is it as simple as instituting some type of
smartphone etiquette? Or does it have to go deeper than that? Are there some
folks out there who believe nothing should be done and simply let this take its
course?
Kenneth J. Henry Jr.
Kenneth J. Henry Jr.
6 comments:
I'm happy to say I don't have a cell phone. Well, that's not entirely true, I have a pay-by-the-minute phone that I keep in my backpack in case my motorcycle breaks down. It costs me $8.33 a month, it doesn't have internet.
I also can't believe how dependent people have become on smartphones. I asked the lady at the service desk today at Costco why I haven't been getting any coupons in the mail. She said they are no longer sending them and I have to download the Costco APP and show the online coupons to the cashier. How about the people that don't have nomophobia like me and simply don't have a smart phone???
I completely agree with your research and article. My wife dropped her iPhone two weeks ago and it didn't turn back on. She was crying, and said it was her whole life. TIME TO WAKE UP AMERICA!!
-Stan
I have a smartphone and I do believe that I use it heavily but done feel like I'm addicted. I have on numerous occasions forgot my phone at the house and never really caused me to feel like i couldn't function without it.
I do see that many people out now a days do suffer from this addiction as they are face down in a phone nearly the whole time you see them. I fail to see what is exactly so much more important on this phone then hanging with friends or family. Also I have seen many people who put a phone away just to magically have it back out seconds later without it signally them something new was waiting for them.
This blog post is not only interesting but can transcend time. You could easily replace this 15 years ago with pager or 10 years ago with cell phone. In the early to mid 90's, the symptoms of not having a pager for people would be "people can't get a hold of me" or "I can't get a hold of a person". As pagers evolved from numeric pages to text pages, people could share quick little messages with one another becoming the perfect segue to text messaging and instant messaging.
Towards the late 90's into early 2000's, people had the same issues when having a cell phone except the symptoms expanded to people with cell phones became the bane of restaurants. People were unaware of how loud they actually were and it annoyed the people around them and isolated the people they were with. The cell phone with text messaging soon became the precursor to "nomophobia". People would be checking or returning text messages on phones that didn't even have qwerty keyboards which made for even more distracted drivers and made for not so fun people at get togethers.
In the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life study about fears of youth smartphone addiction because like with all technology, as newer technology comes out, old technology is handed down to non-users, older parents or even kids. I've done the same with my three year old with my old iPhone from 2008. Its become a toy for her on road trips or something to play with while we're making dinner, etc. But I've noticed from time to time she gets irritated if she doesn't have it to play with. Granted, that could be the case with any toy, and a child isn't into social networks (yet). But the smartphone is intimate and easy to interact with. Just like a child with their toy, its their focus and their "happy place".
In the end, the original social network is actually interacting with one another in person. It would be rude if someone was having lunch with you, then all of the sudden whipped out a book and started reading it; or if you just ignored the person you're with and started talking to someone else. People already know the etiquette in those situations. Its pretty easy to extend the same common courtesy to one another and actually be involved in the moment and ditch the smart phone.
Mike L.
I completely agree that we as a whole are way too fixated on our self phones. My girlfriend is certainly nomophobic, she is glued to her phone - Facebook, Pinterest, etc... We cannot watch a tv show, movie, or even enjoy a nice fire without her being glued to her phone. What can be done about it? Unfortunately it is the world we live in - convenience. Everything is catered to make things easier. I don't see how it can be turned back, there is simply too much money to be made.
Two Quotes I would like to share:
“Email, instant messaging, and cell phones give us fabulous communication ability, but because we live and work in our own little worlds, that communication is totally disorganized.”
Marilyn vos Savant
“We all fall into our habits, our routines, our ruts. They're used quite often, consciously or unconsciously, to avoid living, to avoid doing the messy part of having relationships with other people, of dealing with a person next to us. That's why we can all be in a room on our cell phones and not have to deal with one another, yet through our phones we find a way to stay socially connected.”
Andrew Stanton
I agree with the fact that the smartphone has changed relationships and the way we communicate tremendously. But even though the smartphone has created barriers between people directly interacting with each other, it has formed connections in other ways (I just wanted to bring up a different pov to this blog). The smartphone has become the main symbol of status and communication for the 21st century. Personally, I think that the smartphone has its ups and downs. In today’s society, although it restricts direct communication, it does establish other forms of communication. In a way, I think that the smartphone is able to reveal a person’s true thoughts and feelings while texting; especially since you don’t have to face the individual physically. In addition, a smartphone is able to communicate instantly regardless of distance.
Based on recent research, the evolution of the smartphone has completely changed the life of the people within our society. They are aware of how much their lives are affected by their cell phones. In fact most of them don’t know how to go through their daily routines without the company of these gadgets. According to the Ball State University Survey- 73% of today’s College students own smartphones. They feel that it is a necessary part of their academic career by allowing them to stay connected and organized. For example, if a student was absent or needed help on an assignment, they would be able to contact their professor or colleague for an instant reply. In most cases, professors update their notes, assignments, or quizzes online and students can easily stay on track by looking up due dates. Students are even able to search for information by using their phone’s internet, in this way their smartphone becomes an educational resource. As a result, using symbolic interactionism, the student who is constantly using a Smartphone, is displayed as an intelligent, highly popular, and social person.
In essence, I think the new generation that grew up using cell phones as their main sources of communication, don’t know the difference between the communication from before and after the phone. If the two people of the “internet generation” were placed in a room with no technology (no tv, cell phones, laptops, etc.) and asked to communicate with each other, they would probably attempt conversation then start feeling awkward, irritated, and bored with nothing to do. Now take this scenario as opposed to those from before the “internet generation” (maybe our grandparents), who would be able to talk for hours. The only problem revolves around the generation that are in between (us); the generation that have seen the goods and the bads of both worlds and know the difference between the before and after the internet.
Hi Kenneth,
This is a great post. It addresses an issue that I think many people deal with these days, which is addiction to mobile technology. I do feel a bit lost without my cellphone, not because I am even concerned about the data on it, but because of the source of connection it provides. I do have other devices where I can “plug in” to the networks or access the same content that I have on my phone, but my phone feels more like a personal mobile device than my laptop or tablet, just because people can actually still call me on that, in comparison to other devices. I agree with Mike L.’s comments that point out the fact that this phenomenon is not entirely new, but it does seem to be more exacerbated as a result of the fairly recent interactive developments in these tech toys.
I think that you brought up a good point when you said, “I believe this is helping destroy the very fabric that connects a family or community. It’s a distraction that is pulling our attention away from moments that ultimately are more fulfilling, in my opinion.” I feel like this is just a result of our learning curve with the technology that is not yet fully developed to really connect us in the ways we really want it to. I would even say that the fact that we do spend so much time online trying to connect with so many people, even when we in the company of other people, points to a deeper issue.
When I was taking a humanities course, here at Regis, called Leading Lives that Matter, it was made more apparent to me than ever that the structure of our society doesn’t lend itself well to having many priorities in life, without conflict. The challenge of balancing “competing scripts” is difficult for most people, especially for those of us who value (and would like to give equal time to) personal relationships, our careers, our social lives, personal development and fulfillment, and other interests or priorities at the same time. The reality is that many of us spend most of our time at work, maybe commuting to and from our jobs, eating, sleeping, and, for those of us on this forum, doing schoolwork. I know that I would love, and I do crave, more “social” time with friends and family. But since there are only so many hours in the day, I connect online more often than in person with a lot of people I care about. I can do that from anywhere, almost at anytime. It is not the preference, it is just the opportunity that is most convenient and available a majority of the time.
-A. Jojola
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