Abstract
The paper explores the theme of smartphone addiction. Five published articles are used in order to support the main claim. The authors of the articles are mainly concerned with two main questions. First, they try to explain what causes the importance and the popularity of smartphones. Second, they shift their attention to smartphone addiction. Emanuel, R. et. al. provide statistics which shows that people are too dependent on this device. The researchers also explain the negative impacts of smartphone addiction. The problem of smartphone addiction is rather accurate and requires further investigation.
Keywords: smartphone, device, Internet, addiction
Since the appearance of smartphones the life of people has changed a lot. It definitely became easier and more convenient. Indeed, some people already cannot imagine their life without this device. They use it as their main source of communication and socialization. They use it for work and educational purposes. It is possible to say that smartphone has become an integral part of people's life. At present time it is used in every sphere of their lives. That is the main reasons why people have started talking about smartphone overuse and smartphone addiction. It is clear that most people are too dependent on their phones and can hardly live a day without this smart device.
First of all, it is important to mention why smartphones have recently become increasingly popular in modern world. It fact, it would be difficult to find a person who would not be using one’s smartphone for at least one day. That is why it is possible to say that smartphones actually dominate people’s lives. In general, it is possible to talk about three main areas where smartphones could be used. They are the following: personal life and communication, education and also work.
Of course, the main advantage of smartphone lies in the fact that it gives people opportunity to communicate any time they want to. It helps them to keep in touch with their close people and to always be connected. As Mazmanian states (2011), “a lot of the conversations about new technologies focus on how to make them better and faster, but it's important for us to think deeply about the implications of been connected all the time” (Mazmanian, 2011). Some people won't realize how often they use smartphone for communication purpose till they are disconnected. Furthermore, the popularity of smartphone may be explained by the fact that smartphone “combines telephone services with computer services in a single device” (Paul, A. and Soukup, S.J., 2015). Modern services allow people to talk to each other about different matters. Computer services allow them to surf the Internet, download different materials, play games, watch various videos and listen to music. That is the main reason why such phones gained great popularity among people. Thus, Montag et. al (2015) believe that “smartphones represent an important part of modern life, because they enable us to communicate from nearly everywhere (as long as the signal is available), access the Internet, check e-mails and social networks” (Montag et. al, 2015). These are the main activities that are significant for any smartphone user. It is also worth considering that many people use their phones in order to spend their time navigating social networks. It is quite popular to socialize with the help of such networks as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many others. Young people follow this trend and actively use their phones for this purpose. They upload their pictures there, write commentaries or simply read news. They use their phones so much in order to navigate social networks that people started to talk about smartphone overuse.
It should be also noted that people successfully use their smartphones for educational purposes. Thus, “as communication devices, smartphones connect students and classrooms to online resources; they provide new resources in the various apps that developers have proposed specifically for learning; and, beyond the classroom, smartphones turn cities and public places into classrooms” (Paul, A., Soukup and S.J., 2015). It is clear that smartphones provided new opportunities for learning. With the help of such devices people can read useful books, highlight the most important things and copy citations. Moreover, nowadays there is a number of apps with the help of which people can learn a new language, political or economic terms and a number of important skills.
Furthermore, the importance of smartphones may be explained by the fact that this device may be also used for businesses and work. Thus, Paul, A. and Soukup, S.J. (2015) believe that “the business community has rapidly embarrassed smartphones, in part because business users paved the way for these phones through the early personal digital assistants that featured email, web browsing, and messaging” (Paul, A. and Soukup, S.J., 2015). Smartphones are used to make schedules, organize meetings, show presentations. With the help of these devices people may freely read professional literature and business journals.
So, considering all these examples, it is clear that smartphones occupy a significant role in people's lives. They are smart, convenient and may be used for many purposes. That is why people use them practically everywhere. Nevertheless, it is worth of note that people use their smartphones so often that they become too dependent on them. It is suggested that “overuse of smartphones may resemble an addiction and overuse is also linked to time distortion, with the result that the smartphone is used for longer than originally intended or perceived” (Montag et. al, 2015). Therefore, it is possible to talk about smartphone addiction.
Nowadays researchers conduct many experiments and surveys that prove humans’ total dependency on smartphones. For instance, Emanuel et al. organized a research according to which “404 undergraduate students from a public university in the Southeast was surveyed about their smartphone dependency. One in five rated themselves as totally dependent on their phone; about half agreed that they are overly dependent” (Emanuel R. et al., 2015). This statics allows researchers to talk about smartphone addiction. This addiction is mainly seen among young people, especially students. It seems that they always take their phones with them. They use it in order to communicate with their peers and to text messages to each other. In order to fill time between their classes they often listen to music, play games and successfully use all the apps that their phones provide them with. Thus, smartphone apps allow people to check the weather, read international news and buy clothes and other stuff. Smartphones may tell people even such things as how to dress or how to behave in different situations. In general, it is possible to say that “the medium of the smartphone has effected an evolving and strengthening urge to stay connected – with news, information, entertainment, and other people” (Emanuel R. et al., 2015). Humans always take their phones with them. Moreover, they expect others to do it as well. It seems that the whole world is dependent on this smart device.
Furthermore, it is possible to say that people abuse smartphones due to the fact that they have the Internet. At this rate, it is possible to talk about Internet addiction. For instance, “in a public opinion poll in U.S., it was found that 13 to 17 years old age group (73%) were commonly affected by Internet addiction” (Agarwal, V. and Kar, S.K, 2015). Again, they read news on the Internet, and chat in all kinds of social networks. They upload new photos and wait for people’s commentaries. In fact, social networks are very abusive. Young people can spend hours there without recognizing how fast the time goes. In a certain way, smartphones substitute computers. It happens because of their small size and weight. As a result, people can easily take their phone any place they want to. In general, it is possible to say that “companies making mobile phones, made them compatible for other technologies like – games, videos, internet browsing and many other applications which facilitate their wide circulation and making them more addicting objects” ( Agarwal, V. and Kar, S.K, 2015).
However, it is important to note that a wide usage of smartphones may negatively affect people's emotional state. For example, people don't feel themselves comfortable when they don't have smartphones with them. According to Agarwal, and V., Kar, S.K (2015), “often these people are unable to separate from these gadgets and feel worried, irritable and desperate, when they forget to take them along” (Agarwal, V. and Kar, S.K, 2015). They feel themselves quite uncomfortable when they hear the ringing of someone else's phone. They are afraid to miss something important as they associate their phone being the main source of information and communication. Emanuel et. al. (2015) organized a research among students with the help of which they found out that “two-thirds fear being without their phone or feel that they are missing something without it. Most (94%) report feeling panicked, desperate, or sick upon discovering they have misplaced their phone” (Emanuel et. al., 2015). This statistics clearly shows the negative effects of using smartphones so much. If a person cannot have a normal life without one’s phone and feels worried, it means that something went wrong. It means that one suffers from smartphone addiction.
Therefore, people should understand that smartphone was created in order to make their lives easier and more convenient. However, it doesn't mean that this smart device should fully substitute people's lives. People should always keep in mind why do they need their smartphones and what is the main purpose of this device. It is also extremely important not to become fully dependent on it.
References
Agarwal, V., Kar, S.K, (2015). Technology addiction in adolescents. J. Indian Assoc. Child Adolosc. Ment. Health, 11 (3), 170-174
Montag. C., Braszkiewicz, K., Sariyska, R., L., Lachmann, B., Andone, I., Trendalov, B. Markowetz., A. (2015). Smartphone usage in the 21st century: who is active on WhatsApp?. BMC Research Notes, 8, 331
Mazmanian, M. (2011). Studying the role of smartphones in daily life. UCI News. Retrieved from: http: // www.news.uci.edu
Paul, A., Soukup, S.J. (2015). Smartphones. Communication Research Trends, 34, 3-15
Richard, E., Bell, R., Cotton, C., Craig, J., Drummond, D., Gibson, S., Williams, A. (2015). The Truth About Smartphone Addiction. College Student Journal. 49 (2), 291-297
