Smart Phones Make People Antisocial - Term Paper Example

Smart Phones Make People Antisocial Gartner an analyst provided smart phone definition as “A large-screen, data-centric, handheld device designed to offer complete phone functions whilst simultaneously functioning as a personal digital assistant (PDA)” (Himmelsbach 1). The advancement in technology have seen large companies like Nokia, apple and the rest launch different kinds of smart phones with a host of different features and capabilities. This has set the stone rolling for the development of millions of applications for installation on these hand-held devices with great computing abilities, which in the past had been a reserve for computers. This means there is an application for everything that needs to be done by a mobile phone user (Pagani 51). This has made people to highly depend on smart phones in their day to day activities creating a form of mental and psychological slavery that deter them from naturally interacting with other people in the society as the case before the development of smart phones Smart phones have brought forward interactive games that result to heavy obsession that makes one ignore those close to him/her. It creates an uglier social environment when everyone gets busy tapping the smart phone. The combination of interactive technology into a smart phone has made people to bring out the worst of their inner self by displaying their antisocial qualities. People persistently check on their smart phone if something has occurred while disregarding the life that is going on around them (May & Greg 197). Our social interactions have been greatly affected by the excess use of Smartphone. They have provided us every reason to stop interacting with our peers with numerous applications that can now be hosted on the android platform. They were meant to help us communicate; they have affected our lives such that having a one on one-conversation feels strange; therefore, most people tend to avoid a face-to-face conversation. The sole purpose of smart phones was to facilitate the people connectivity globally with ease. On the contrary, it is disconnecting those very people from others barely a touching distance away. This overdependence on smart phones on the social and economic perspective have created a lazy population who are not ready to get out of the comfort of their smart phones to physically engage in various social activities. Most commercial activities which in the past involved people venturing outdoors can now be done on the handheld devices by just a few taps on the screen such as shopping and banking services now involves just a few taps on the screen. This has limited people interaction in places such as shopping malls and banking halls, which in the past used to be flocked by hordes of people. The urge to engage in extracurricular activities in schools has been watered down by emergence of sport games that really do well on smart phones. Most people prefer playing their favorite game on the smart phone than go out to play physical games with the peers. A good example is the high reference in the youth on laying games like FIFA and Football Manager than going out to the field. This is because those games are loaded with fantasy, which is rare to get in the real world (Porter & Donthu 1005). Smart phones have brought up scenarios where one find people grouped together, but instead of chatting they are busy engaged on their devices. The devices has resulted in peers unintentionally, indirectly isolating themselves from other people, and paying little attention to their environment. Sometimes its is used as away of putting off someone whom one has little to talk about or is disinterested in engaging in talks or does not have patience for. At times smart phones are used by some people who want to look busy from other people views as a way of ignoring social responsibilities (May & Greg 201). Most people to excuse themselves from social gathering or meetings use fake calls apps. They are usually set up such that they will indicate a fake incoming call from any number in the phonebook. This application has been made up with the sole intention of cutting social ties. Smart phones have not only trespassed the social boundary but has also have led to people getting to a level where life principles does not matter at all. In situation such as business meetings or dates, fiddling on the smart phone appears rude and unwelcoming behavior. This creates a rather unhealthy situation creating a barrier to social integration in scenarios based on real life. Back in the days, a group of people even though strangers used to engage in heated conversations but nowadays one will find a group of people deeply engaged in their smart devices. Smart phones have slowly phased out going out to rent movies; therefore with the big screens on the smart devices one can easily stream a movie and bypass the need of going out to check new movies at the library or go to a cinema to seethe latest release. Apps like Hulu+, Netflix, and Amazon Instant Video among other application have become the online video stores. This has made even borrowing a movie copy from a friend outdated; I find this pretty much fueling the antisocial behavior. Smart phones are getting us to communicate as well as getting us ways through numerous applications on how to avoid communicating. They are doing no good to inferiority complex that troubles many youth. This is due to overreliance on smart phone up to get social issues sorted (Wilska 453). It is over common to see a person who is good in online chatting freeze when answering a call where he is supposed to keep a sensible conversation underway. The privacy of many people has been breached through smart phones. Mark Edward MFormation Company tasked with device management said: “When you have an advanced device like a smart phone, you want to make sure that no one gets access to the information on it. We see more demand where people are running richer applications like push email” (Himmelsbach 2). There are various spying applications on the market that once installed into a person smart phone can help track his/her every movement as well as tap voice and text conversations. Those applications are even capable of sending real time location of a person by use of Google satellites; this behavior is highly unethical and antisocial. They have led us to believe life is not giving us enough on the social platform. This makes us to search for more apps to spice up things. Highly addictive games leaves staring on the devices for hours consuming the time we could use to hang out with friends. At the end of the day, we are left tired, exhausted, and still yearning for more interactive sessions with the smart device. However, opponents of these claim say that smart phones is should not be blamed as they are just tools for social interaction. They have facilitated social integration in the society and have made it easier to do some things, which in the past proofed difficult with a mobile phone. They argue that they provide advanced connectivity and computing power compared to a contemporary mobile phone. They have large screens with high-resolution power as well as high internal storage capacity (Pagani 47). This has allowed people to access and install useful applications in our every day activities Smartphone nowadays are built with high definition cameras as high as 15 megapixels. These are used to capture life events such weddings, parties. This in a way shows that the users of smart phone do engage themselves in social set up in a positive way. The pictures taken are in most cases shared through the social media further fostering the social integration and appreciating social gathering. Smartphone has provided a platform where people can share their day-to-day activities. It is a common thing nowadays for one to tweet or update what he /she is eating in a restaurant instead of conversing with the partner. Some people go to the extent of documenting every aspect of the meal on social platforms. This development is a social behavior on its own since it provide real time interaction with friends as well as family members (Porter & Donthu 1003). Internet connectivity is far much superior on smart phones compared to the older conventional devices. Microsoft business manager in the UK Jason Langridge said: “For us, smart phone combine traditional communication devices and provide rich applications and rich data applications” (Himmelsbach 1). This has made the world to be a global village in the way people communicate and share ideas. This has resulted to a decline in the need to travel to meet people from different corners of the world. Social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, Whatsapp among others applications have created the platform for people to interact in the comfort of their bedrooms with a smart phone in hand (Pagani 57). Smart phones have replaced the way people communicated in real time and tweets, emails and real time online messaging has replaced this. This has enhanced further the means of communication as most people do it for fun or beat boredom. This has been highly facilitated by the high speed internet connectivity that has been brought by smart phones as well as big display screens. One does not have to go to a cyber nowadays to send an email or chat with friends, smart phones has brought everything at the fingertips (Wilska 449). Smart phone have come along with application that have made shopping spree easier and efficient. This has provided as means to save precious time, which we used to go out doing petty shopping in the malls and restaurants as well as getting goods shipped in. Through an app on the phone one can order a pizza from a joint selling pizzas, do internet shopping and one can as well ship a package without stepping out of ones door by getting FedEx to get the job done. With a smart phone in hand, there is a constant urge to keep up to date with the unfolding global events mainly from the online community keep niggling us. This has helped us keep awash with the unfolding news without the need of being glued on the television for hours. The news update is in real time since most media company has embraced the online platform as a mean of disseminating information. This in a way has worked in strengthening the social ties since information is power. However, it is clear that the addiction that comes with usage of millions of applications compatible with smart phones have made these gadgets a source of antisocial behavior. Therefore, it is acceptable for me basing my argument along that line to believe and conclude that smart phones in the long run has made people antisocial. Works Cited Himmelsbach, T. (2013). Survey on today's smartphone usage. S.l.: Grin Verlag Ohg. May, Harvey, and Greg Hearn. "The Mobile Phone As Media." International Journal of Cultural Studies. 8.2 (2005): 195-211. Print. Pagani, Margherita. "Determinants of Adoption of Third Generation Mobile Multimedia Services." Journal of Interactive Marketing. 18.3 (2004): 46-59. Print. Porter, Constance E, and Donthu, Naveen. "Using the Technology Acceptance Model to Explain How Attitudes Determine Internet Usage: the Role of Perceived Access Barriers and Demographics." Journal of Business Research. 59.9 (2006): 999-1007. Print. Wilska, Terhi-Anna. "Mobile Phone Use As Part of Young People's Consumption Styles." Journal of Consumer Policy. 26.4 (2003): 441-463. Print. Read More