OMG! Life is calling
Ever feel like you’re addicted to your cell phone?
If so, you’re not alone. A recent study shows nearly 2 million Americans find it hard to leave home without these devices; worldwide, the total leaps to more than 1.5 billion.
Quite an acceptance curve for a product that is less than three decades old.
Tyler Barnett of Los Angeles, like all of us, has to find ways of balancing the use of his cell phone in interpersonal settings. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Thunder up!
As for me, the newest media ritual occasioned by my own Droid obsession is staying abreast of the NBA playoffs, usually at times when I should be doing something else. But hey, it’s the Thunder, right?
Still, a dinner conversation with your significant other can be undermined pretty badly by a Droid-delivered NBA game.
If you’ve seen the AT&T “romantic dinner” commercial, you know what I’m talking about. Here’s a guy with this attractive woman and he is trying to balance his interest in her and the game on his iPhone. Operating in what he thinks is a stealth mode, he shoots glances to the phone on his lap while holding hands with his date.
A state of angst
While women viewers feel for the date, male viewers identify with the guy. He’s operating in what communication researchers call “a state of cognitive dissonance” or what most of us just call tension. He wants to score, but he also wants the score.
Despite what he thinks, he’s not doing a very good job. His date is onto him, and you get the feeling the question isn’t far off: “Okay, so what’s it gonna be? Me or the game?”
And the answer, of course, is …
The great debate
On a related note, I teach a university course in interpersonal communication, and this commercial always produces a spirited debate in class about a dating scene that is obviously a common one. And, in a larger vein, it goes to the question of how much we want to commit to the virtual world of the pixels as opposed to the attractive person sitting right in front of us.
This blog has addressed this real-world/virtual-world tension before. But before, it was usually the laptop that produced the tension. Now it’s the cell phone. After all, you can’t set up a laptop in front of you when you’re out on a date. Well, you can, but good luck getting a second one.
But who needs a laptop when we have the smart phone? Remember, though: just because that device is smart in what it can do, we still have to be smart in when it should make an appearance.
Texting while what?
I mean, there are times when that preoccupation can be downright dangerous to our health, right? The big one is texting while driving. But how about texting while just plain walking?
A woman texts while walking across a crowded San Francisco street. While texting and driving has triggered more alarm bells and prompted laws in several states, experts say we should be aware of the dangers of texting while walking. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Some of you may have seen the video of a woman falling into a mall fountain while texting as she strode along, oblivious to the watery hazard in front of her.
If you think that’s absurd, how about Bonnie Miller, from Benton Harbor, Michigan, who walked right off the pier into Lake Michigan while texting a friend on her cell phone?
Gaits affected
According to a recent study in the journal, Gait & Posture, texting while talking has a definite disruptive effect on our gait, setting us up for similarly embarrassing, if not dangerous, moments like these. An article in Men’s Health News discusses it.
In that study, a group of 20-somethings was randomly selected to walk while texting or talking on a cell phone. Researchers discovered that these twin concurrent activities caused the subjects to stride toward a target much more slowly than normal, and that they veered off course by 61 percent. Many actually walked beyond the target without realizing it until it was too late.
Hence, Mrs. Miller, the woman who wound up needing rescue from Lake Michigan. Her 15-year-old son said she had time to utter, “Oh God!” and then he heard the splash.
A watery rescue
She was rescued by her husband, Greg, and she is now speaking out to anyone who will listen about the dangers of texting while trodding.
This crazy kind of activity is how vital we believe our cell phones to be. We will actually risk our lives to update a friend on what we’re doing right now. Like swimming in Lake Michigan.
Dare one say we’re drowning in our addiction?
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Comments
I too am addicted to my smart phone and can not imagine a going without it. I fell naked if I reach down to my pocket and don’t feel it there. I can’t remember the last time I committed a phone number to memory, used a map to look up directions or check in the newspaper to find out movie times. Here in Florida, we even have a prominent lawyer that runs ads reminding people not to text and drive. The internet does create a wealth of modern day convenience and helps us to connect to people in ways never imaginable before, it still can take away many shared experiences we used to have from things like NBC’s “must see TV” and going to the movies. Although we miss out on human interaction and face to face contact, it’s still a lot quicker and easier to pick up your phone and shoot a quick text or email.
We are drowning in our addictions. The evolution of media and technology has led to an environment where many people feel tethered to staying connected and in tune with media and society; usually this involves the internet in some regard. There is this notion that we have to be available 24/7 because technology has afforded us this opportunity. This has also sparked the demand for instant gratification. We want news and updates where we want at any given time, no matter what. The media landscape has had to evolve to satisfy this need. I know I complain about having to make myself available whenever someone reaches out to me, but we do it to ourselves. There’s no one putting a gun to my head forcing me to check my email before I get out of bed in the morning, or answer the phone just because it rings. It has become an addition, this environment of constant communication has compelled us to get sucked in and follow the trend, regardless of what we would prefer to do. I like having the option to be connected and absorb media at any time of the day whether on TV, radio or the internet, but hate that I feel a sense of obligation on occasion to stay tuned in or logged on.
You’re right, Kathelin. We are in danger of drowning in our addictions. But there is no turning back the clock on technology so we’re going to have to figure out how to use it for good and minimize the negative aspects of it. Thanks for the post.
It is quicker, Jeff, admittedly. The question, of course, is what are we giving up in the way of human interaction, just to shoot short bursts of text which are often insignificant at best. Many positive uses for new technology are out there, of course.
Thanks for the post, Deborah. I remember asking myself back in 1992: What happens to interpersonal communication when you take the personalities out of it? The reason I was concerned about it then is that when I started getting into e-mail as a form of communication and realized the medium is lousy for non-verbals.
Interesting read. I’m embarrassed to admit I often veer off course while texting and walking…I have gotten better at making myself stop this habit–especially when on the stairs at work! I,too, always keep my phone on me. For me, it’s mostly a convenience thing. I want to be able to call and text whenever I need to. I want to be able to check my email while I’m on the go. I want to use Twitter and Instagram while at events. Steve Jobs’ “digital lifestyle” that I live supports all of that. To some extent, this lifestyle is an addiction. But it’s only because it has the opportunity to be one. Prior to personal mobile devices, we could only listen to the radio at home or in the car and we could only watch television on a stationary screen. We never thought about using those media anywhere else. Today, we just don’t think about where we’ll use media at all because they’re accessible everywhere via applications and personal devices.
I think the bigger question that is raised here is how as a society we have placed greater importance on the services that are offered by mobile devices. Are the calls we make and receive more important than those of 15 years ago when we had to wait until we got home to make them or check our messages? Are the emails we are getting so much more important that we need to check our in boxes every few minutes? Is posting what we are doing every 5 minutes to Twitter or Facebook really that important or are we just led to believe so by social pressures? Are our lives really that much more boring that we need to be entertained at all times? That is probably the one I’m most guilty of. Whenever I’m waiting in line for anything or sitting down for any length of time my phone is out and I’m browsing the web or reading Flipboard. I don’t have answers to these questions but I do know that sometimes society and media industries want us to believe things are more important than they actually are. Are we the users or the ones being used?
http://pinterest.com/pin/236579786645970057/
I love this idea (linked above). Justin, how right you are! We do place more importance on the conversations held through our mobile devices, much to the detriment of those around us. Jobs’ “digital society” is having massive effects on the society that is here and now. They aren’t all bad, though. For instance, most people work in a collaborative environment, and collaboration requires meetings, which require people to be out and away from their computers. For working environments, having mobile access to email is a great way to stay on task while “on the go.”
However, I love the idea of the link above because personal conversations, those memories you’re creating in a social setting, can’t be relived. Anything you’re viewing online will be there tomorrow. Having access to information online is wonderful, and certainly a great tool for an informed society, but what does it say about the importance of the conversation I’m having with a person when I stop it to look at my phone? It says to the other person in the conversation, “You are less important than this.”
I, like my peers, am addicted to my smartphone. I check Facebook multiple times per day, track news on Twitter, and am alerted when I have a new email message. I agree with Dr. Willis, however, that there’s “no turning back the clock on technology,” so the solution is to adapt and meet changing communication needs. For example, I work at a high school, and lately we’ve noticed just how widespread the propensity for texting is among our students. Though Vivian cites that 87 percent of teenagers text, I’m certain my school is close to 100 percent. In some ways, we embrace that technology – I’ve been known to text reminders to students before a meeting or deadline – but our school is also deliberate in fostering a culture where adults and students talk to one another. As modern-day teenagers go off to college and enter the workforce, it’s a frightening possibility that many of them will be ill-equipped for jobs in which they have to communicate with people because they never learned to do so growing up. At my school, we value face-to-face communication very much and want to be sure our students are comfortable with these interactions as well as those through a computer screen.
As most everyone who has already commented, I am not in denial about my addiction to technology. I am in constant contact with friends and family through texting and close friends know most every moment of my day as it is happening! When I have gone on trips into the wilderness in which a cell phone is completely out of service and unusable, it is incredibly hard to adjust to the inability to keep in constant touch with people. I think part of it is that my brain is so used to having multiple things to do at all times that just sitting still and enjoying what I’m doing in the present moment almost feels like not enough, like I need more brain stimulation than just that. However, after the first day or so of technological detox, not feeling the need to check my phone every 30 seconds begins to feel very freeing and being able to simply relax in what I am doing feels great. It is like my brain readjusts to not needing the constant technological stimulation and then the “addiction” isn’t an issue!
I am certainly guilty of walking in a veering line while texting or almost running into things because I have not looked up at what I am walking towards. It’s a little embarrassing when things like that happen! But I think that there is no way to move backward technologically now because the world has been exposed to what is available already. Technology will continue to advance and become more available and prevalent, therefore people will have to learn to function effectively as it advances. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with technology, but I do think that it is almost impossible not to become addicted to using it once you are exposed to it.
What has once been viewed as rude and distant has now become more common and acceptable. Often I have become frustrated with the common situations of being on a date, whether with a friend or significant other, and had to wait quietly while they texted across from me. When I make it known the discomfort or agitation I feel when this happens, most people see me as “overreacting”. Despite the media acceptance of this, I refuse to disregard the rudeness of being ignored when conversing with a person. Would it be rude, if while I was talking to someone, mid conversation they turned to talk to someone else? Is it not the same thing?
Your post is spot-on. I think we, as a society, have become way too attached to our mobile devices and social media networks. I’ve gone out with friends to be ignored for nearly the entire dinner or lunch while they update their Facebook status or exchange texts/emails. Don’t get me wrong; connectivity and the information we can access in the mobile format is amazing and convenient. But, sometimes, it’s too convenient, and people forget to enjoy the live company of those around them (as well as forgetting their manners, but that’s a whole other blog post). You mention one of my biggest pet peeves: texting while *insert activity here.* Texting while driving is illegal in Colorado, but much like a good majority of the traffic laws, that is plainly ignored. I see so many people texting during my morning/afternoon commutes and it makes me wonder: “Is that message really so important that you cannot wait until you get home and are wanton in risking your life and mine for the sake of it?” The answer nine times out of 10 is probably a “no,” but people do it anyway. It’s an unfortunate side effect of our zombie-like addiction to our smartphones and the pretense of needing to be in the know 24/7.
Interpersonal communication loses something in the digital medium. You cannot interpret body language, tone, facial expressions and emotions as readily as you can when you converse with someone face-to-face. Also, it’s a lonely existence – in my opinion – when technology replaces the companionship you could be enjoying with the person in front of you. That’s the reason I shut my phone off completely (gasp!) when I go on a date with my husband, attend a dinner party with friends, or when it’s time for a precious mommy/daughter outing with my little one. While I admit to checking my email and keeping an eye on what my friends are up to on social networks, I also enjoy being incommunicado and unreachable at times. I think it’s about balance and knowing your limits. Incidentally, I feel less stressed and burdened when I’m not constantly checking texts, emails and Facebook feeds. The information overload one experiences through that little smartphone can be, at times, simply exhausting.
Life is too short to let it pass you by. Unplug. Go off the grid. Get out and cherish the people and things you love; your smartphone (and the constant noise it generates in the form of too much information) will still be there when you get back.