Cellphone Technology
Rock$tarGirl
Socialbehaviordraft.docxCell Phone Technology-Social Behavior
Cell phone Technology- Social Behaviors
In today’s life, cell phones have become a big part of our daily lives. Like everything, it comes with pros and cons of our life. Cell phones affect many different aspects such as health, relationships, social behavior and of course the environment. In this section, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the use of cell phones and the effects it has on society and specifically how it affects humans’ behavior. Some of the key points for this discussion is the exposure of children to this technology and the effect that it has on them, privacy, decrease in social interaction, and environmental impact.
People have become very dependent on cell phones, which has made people stop developing skills since they rely on cell phones for these tasks. For example, nowadays most of us do not even know our cell phone number nor the cell phone number of our family members, and it does not stop here, we have stopped looking at the street names and we rely on peoples review to make a simple dinner reservation (Boylan, 2014).
Another issue that cell phones have caused is the increase in stolen individual’s data due to phone hacks or the use of applications that gather information from our cell phones without our knowledge. Cell phones are so central to our lives that we do not stop to think about how much personal information our cell phones have. Cell phones not only have our birth date blood type, height, weight, house address, work address, credit, and debit card information, fingerprints/face recognition; it also has our daily routines as locations, where do we work, where do we go after work, it knows what we read and what we listen, etc. With all this information added in our cell phones, it is extremely easy for hackers or applications to have access to all this sensitive information. Also, when we download applications to our cell phone we are giving them access to some of our data. Which leads the application developers to sell this information to companies without the individual’s knowledge. Our cell phones have more information about us than we acknowledge and companies can make a profit from it. If you notice on most applications they want access to your camera or/and microphone. This leads up to hackers getting access to photos or ear dropping on the conversation through the microphone. There has been an increase in the application that big companies such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy make it seem so convenient by saying “you can scan the product to see the price by using the application” which required the individual to allow access to the camera and photos (Deutsche, 2017). These little sneaky moves open the doors to hackers and unmoral photos that may be of an individual’s phone to be stolen.
Sadly, the use of social media has enabled users to express their opinions without thinking of the consequences. By the use of the applications within our cell phone, social media is available 24/ 7. The reason behind this is that people hide behind an “avatar” and they feel that they can make any statement regardless if it is moral or not. Social media helps individuals to hide and express themselves as if they were face to face with someone. The individual would have to think about the consequences that come with words and actions. There is a misconception that we can have another personality on the internet and social media, like if its social media there were not social rules (Hyman, 2014). As we see in today’s society, there is an increase of posts or comments that celebrities and politicians have made in their past and it is coming back to haunt them and in some cases has ruined their careers.
Further, when we share information through social media, the owner of the content loses control. Once the information is loaded in the system, the content can be shared or exploited without the owner realizing it.
Besides, social interactions may not be as straightforward as they use to be. Nowadays our primary means of communication is a text message, we do not use the cell phone to talk as we use too. It seems that today’s technology has eliminated our skills to talk and communicate; it is more convenient to send a text message or an email than to grab the phone and talk in real-time. This type of communication can lead to misunderstanding. When texting sometime things are taking out of context and may appear to some as flirting but in reality, the individual may just be a nice person. That is the difference when interacting with people in the society; you can see body language and facial expression while talking. This leaves no room for assumptions and from anything to be taken out of context.
As for individuals socializing and getting to interact with new people has decreased significantly due to cell phones. Today, at your fingertips they have applications that you can look for people you are compatible with, share the same interests and hobbies. Before all this technology, people would go interact with others through school, parties, get together, and just hanging out with friends. I would like to add to this that in today’s time everyone is busy which makes interaction with other limited. Also, in new school models and work models (where you can study and work from home), the social interaction is non-existent, causing that most of our communication with the outside world is through technology (Boylan, 2014). Cell phones have given us access to social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, these applications allow us to interact with the world by posting pictures or statuses of what people are doing. These applications are a good way to communicate with friends and family that may be abroad and when communication is not easy due to time differences. On the other hand, if the above issues are not a problem, I see these applications as a disadvantage because it can cause jealousy or envy among people you share these precious moments. In addition, several comments can be taken out of contexts, not to mention that companies are using social media to determine the type of person you may be before they hire you, even the immigration office of the US is using the social media as means to gather data from people coming to the US under a VISA (Geser, 2005).
Cell phones are having a negative influence on social interaction in today’s environment. Some interesting question has arisen from this topic. Would you break up by sending a text message? How much of your social life do you conduct through text messages? Do you schedule face-to-face time? Do you track where your friends are by texting? Do you have conversations with text messages (Hyman, 2014)? In recent studies that have taken place about cellphones, usage in different age categories reviles some interesting information. The study analysis individuals from ages 18-24, 25-34, 35-49, and 50-68. The research concluded that young adults use cellphones in many different ways. Such as text-messaging adults is the mean of communication with others as for older adults, they may average 10 text messages per day. As for calling, it is surprisingly almost the same. About 90 percent of both age groups got less than 10 calls per day (Hyman, 2014). Therefore, the quick message is that younger adults are texting in more situations, using it to contact friends and see texting as acceptable. On the other hand, some people try to explain young adult’s behavior as they are socially interacting by using their cell phones and it is not an addiction. Older adults, should not make judgments about cell phone use in younger adults, we should withhold the negative evaluations of people constantly checking their cell phones. Perhaps instead we can respect the cell phone and internet natives. These young adults have grown up using cell phones and the internet (Hyman, 2014).
The effect of cell phone’s on children at a young age is a very big topic in today’s time. Just as cell phones affecting young adults and older adults, we must not forget nor ignore the major effect on children at a young age. Children have become able to operate a cell phone at a very young age. This is mainly to the fact that in most cases for a family to obtain a good life, they require that both parents work, which leads to kids getting less attention from their parents. After long days at work, some parents give their kids' cell phone/iPad to play a game or watch videos to make them stop crying or keep them occupied (Sagoff, 2008). These behavior habits are creating an addiction in children. This has created many effects in today’s society, children are having health issues because they do not stay active they would rather play video games or any device. This has caused an increase in obesity and medical conditions occurring in children at young ages. For example, low vitamin D due to lack of doing outdoor activities. Anger issues because they are not interacting with others at a young age they always think everything has to be there way and once it does not happen, they have a tantrum (Sagoff, 2008).
Understanding that within society there are two types of human beings, the ones that make decisions based on practicality and the ones that make decisions based on the thought process an ethics values (Boylan, 2014). Nowadays, all our decisions have larger implications than they used to have; by buying a product we tend to support a way of farming, a way of employment, an ideology, etc. Humans must understand their relationship with the environment as a way to move forward with technological advancements while using resources rationally and preserving nature. This will require a complete renovation of our current economic and political structure. If we continue to encourage development and expansion, we will see major effects not only in the climate change and in ecosystems, but also in societies and in the way we relate to each other (Boylan, 2014). Finally, the cell phone has many effects on society and the most affected is the environment. On the topic of cell phone and environment, it has many effects that many may not be aware of. For example, a cell phone recyclable contains battery and carbon footprints (Boylan, 2014). Nowadays, cell phone carries status in society. People always want the great and latest cell phone and that shows people what they have. In today’s market, cell phones cost a lot of money with most starting at 999 dollars. The company is introducing cell phones along with many other electronic devices every year. Which causes a spike in environment issue because they need to recycle cell phone better.
In conclusion, cell phones have made people’s lives easier but at a cost. If people are not careful, it causes addiction and isolation from society. With all this being said always be aware and try your best not to become addicted and aware of all the possible impact that may occur to your life. As adults, it is our responsibility to use cell phones wisely and if you are a parent, it is your job to limit cell phone usage to your child.
References
Boylan, M. (2014). Environmental ethics (2nd ed.). Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
Deutsche Welle. (n.d.). Smartphones - not so smart for the planet: DW: 06.03.2017. Retrieved from https://www.dw.com/en/smartphones-not-so-smart-for-the-planet/a-37824142
Geser, H. (2005). Book Review: The Mobile Connection. The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society. New Media & Society, 7(2), 283–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/146144480500700208
Hayman, Ira Cell Phones are Changing Social Interaction. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-mishaps/201401/cell-phones-are-changing-social-interaction
Sagoff, M. (2008). The economy of the earth: philosophy, law, and the environment. New York: Cambridge University Press.
