Effect of Increase in Mobile Phones Usage on Young People - Report Example

Increase of Usage of Mobile Phone and Effect on Young People Name: University: Course Title: Instructor: Date: Abstract According to this report, mobile phones among young people has increased significantly in recent years. However, this has been associated with several advantages like proper and improved communication and increased access of recent information. Nevertheless, they are cons associated with mobile phones usage like time wastage, access to pornographic materials among others. This report has also suggested some solutions to reduce the negative effects. It also takes us through various periods that mobile usage has undergone including past, present, and future. Contents 1.0 Introduction 4 3.0 The Usage and Effects of Mobile Phones on Young People Today 5 4.0 The Usage and Effects of Mobile Phones on Young People in the Next Five Years 6 5.0 Conclusion 7 Bibliography 9 Increase of Usage of Mobile Phone and Effect on Young People 1.0 Introduction Geser (2006, p. 11) argues that various researches have indicated that mobile phone technology and usage have been rapidly increasing in the recent years. Equally, popularity, dependency, as well as the usage of mobile phones among young people is on the rise. According to a study by Hakoama and Hakoyama (2011, p. 2), the worldwide mobile phones subscriptions in 2001 were below a billion. These numbers had risen to five billion at the end of 2010. However, it is important to note the effect that mobile phones have had on young people. Hakoama and Hakoyama (2011, p. 2) reiterate that mobile phones have become significant to the young generation. Mobile phone usage especially among the young people in the recent couple of years has generated a lot of attention and research. Such attention and research have been directed at such phenomenal topics such as mobile phone etiquette, mobile phone cultures and behaviours, mobile phone use while driving or operating machinery, mobile phone messaging, safety and health-related issues, as well as mobile phone dependency among users (The Telegraph 2011). The purpose of this report is to examine the effects that mobile phone usage has on young people in terms of technology, applications, popularity, legislation, culture, competition, as well as marketing. This report will examine these effects with regard to the last three years, today and the next five years. 2.0 The Usage and Effects of Mobile Phones on Young People in the Last Three Years Research indicates that in the last three years, most young people started using mobile phones as early as from high school. At this time, the technology and the application of mobile phones was mainly focused on communication and text messaging. Compared to recent days, mobile phones were more popular among well to do families as they were expensive in terms of prices and bills. This is because most young people especially in high schools and colleges depend on their parents or guardians for their financial needs. During this time, there were not much legislation regarding the usage of mobile phones other than those related to privacy and security. Mobile phone usage was determined by various factors. The length of the mobile phone usage, the age at which the first mobile phone was acquired, time spent on the mobile phone per day, as well as the gender of the mobile phone user were some of the most significant determinants of mobile phone usage among the young people in the last three years (Hakoama & Hakoyama 2011, p. 2 and 3). 3.0 The Usage and Effects of Mobile Phones on Young People Today Today mobile phone plays a crucial role in how young people whether in schools, colleges or work places operate their daily lives. Today, wireless devices among them mobile phones have increasingly become popular among the young population (Aoki & Downes 2003, p. 349). The effects of mobile phones on young people today occur in three main patterns. These patterns include facilitation of social relationships, management of time, as well as entertainment (Taipale, 2009). Mobile phone manufacturers use technology and applications which are friendly to the young people in order to boost their sales. As a result, competition arises among the mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Blackberry, Apple and Samsung among others. Mobile phones usage has become a very powerful tool in marketing of business among the young people. Young people have become more accustomed to communication especially through social networking sites and social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter (Lee & Williams 2006, p.178 and 179). However, they are cons associated with mobile phones use among the young people. Multimedia applications in mobile phones expose young people to both violent and pornographic materials via internet-enabled mobile phones. However, flaws there are challenges with regard to legislations aimed at protecting the young people against such media contents (Haddon 2008, p.5). Today, the performance of young people in learning have been adversely impacted as they spend more of their time browsing on their phones than on learning activities (Watkins 2009). Despite empowering the young people in terms of communication and file sharing among other mobile phone applications, increasing usage of such technology and applications have also generated debate on the safety of the young people. As technology, the culture, application and other uses of mobile phones continue to advance, so does the challenges with regard to the legislative dimension of this aspect. This has become a challenge to various authorities and law enforcers across the globe as young people engage in numerous unlawful activities via the use of mobile phones. 4.0 The Usage and Effects of Mobile Phones on Young People in the Next Five Years In future, use of mobile phones among young people will also have its share of challenges and usefulness. As technology continues to rapidly advance, so is its effects on its users. Technology has been growing rapidly in its importance as a source of information, social networking, marketing and entertainment. Mobile phones will continue to be a pervasive technology in communication (Aoki & Downes 2003, p. 349). In future, mobile phones will subsume most of the current communication medium such as email, the web, and phone calls among the young people. Third generation (3G) wireless-enabled mobiles will enable young people not only in talking but also enhance multimedia texting, voice communication, as well as direct internet access among other applications (Aoki & Downes 2003, p. 350). The internet enabled phones have changed social and cultural aspect of young people’s life with regard to; entertainment, dating, job search, e-newspapers, and other information are available online (Government of Australia 2009, p. 12 and 13). This phenomenon has changed young people’s culture totally because they are fast in accepting the usage of such technology and its application (youtube.com 2012). Mobile phones also help in saving time, enables the business to be more adaptive to its marketing functions, and better management of finances. In future, the young people will be able to create mobile business arena, in other words mobile commerce (m-commerce) (Aoki & Downes 2003, p. 350). For instance, the Operating Companies in Africa were surprised with the rapid acceptance of mobile communication services especially by low-income young consumers. To respond to this demand, the Operating Companies concentrated on the highly populated areas such as urban areas which they managed to recruit more subscriber, and they have very successful in doing that. The Operating Companies and regulators approach today have threatened to slow mobile telecommunication services growth (Scott et al. 2004, p. 4-6). 5.0 Conclusion In conclusion, the popularity and use of mobile phones among young people has rapidly risen in the last three years and is project to further rise in the next five years. Other than being significant gargets in communication, information access and file sharing, game application among young users, mobile phones also are crucial in other areas. These other areas may include personal safety, social interaction, parental contacts, time management, privacy management, a form of financial incentive, dependency and personal image and identity. While various age groups have found mobile phones to be useful and convenient, young people tend to appreciate them more and are more dependent on them as compared to other users. Most studies have shown that mobile technology remains very critical in daily activities and operations of young people today. Thus, the new technology is shaping how young people are living their lives with regard to the above uses of mobile phones. Nevertheless, it is important to control the way young people use their phones in order to reduce their effects on them. This is through creating awareness on them on the effects of phones. They should also be monitored closely by their guardians on the way they manage them to avoid them wasting a lot of time on mobile phones. Bibliography Aoki, K & Downes, EJ 2003, An analysis of young people’s use of and attitudes toward cell phones, Telematics and Informatics, Vol. 20 pp. 349-364. Retrieved, April 6, 2012 from: http://www.angelfire.com/ego2/lostboyrahul/work/cellphoneuse.pdf Geser, H 2006, Pre-teen Cell Phone Adoption: Consequences for Later Patterns of Phone Use and Involvement, Viewed March 28, 2012, http://socio.ch/mobile/t_geser2.pdf Haddon, L 2008, Young people’s diverse use of multimedia mobile phones, Viewed March 28, 2012, http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/whosWho/AcademicStaff/LeslieHaddon/ICAPanelHad don.pdf Hakoama, M & Hakoyama, S 2011, The impact of cell phone use on social networking and development among college students, The American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences Journal, Vol. 15 pp. 1-20. Lee, JC & William, M 2006, Environmental and geographical education for sustainability: cultural contexts, Nova Science Publishers, Inc, New York. Scott, N 2004, The impact of mobile phones in Africa, Viewed March 28, 2012, http://gamos.org.uk/couksite/Projects/Docs/Mobile%20phones%20in%20Africa/Ful l%20Report.pdf Shanahan, P & Elliott, D 2009, Effective Communication with Young People. Sydney: Commonwealth of Australia, Viewed March 28, 2012, http://www.deewr.gov.au/Youth/OfficeForYouth/Documents/EffectiveCommunication.p df Taipale, S 2009, Does location matter? A comparative study on mobile phone use among young people in Finland, Journal of New Media & Culture, Vol. 6, no. 1. Retrieved, April 6, 2012 from: http://www.ibiblio.org/nmediac/summer2009/MobileLocation.html The Telegraph 2011, The young generation are 'addicted' to mobile phones, Viewed, March 28, 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8458786/The-young-generation-are- addicted-to-mobile-phones.html Warkins, SC 2009, The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social-network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future, Beacon Press, Boston. Youtube.com 2012, Cell phones: just like cigarettes? Viewed March 28, 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jioo6t1s2g Read More