Introduction
Probably, all of us at least once were wondering whether mobile devices have brought more good or bad to our lives. Of course, later, the deeper analysis reveals that this question is not a trivial one and becomes even more complicated as modern technologies become more embedded in everyday life.
Now, it is hard to imagine a person without a mobile phone or – if we talk about younger generations – a smartphone. We can use handheld devices to know the latest news, access the knowledge and (direct) experiences of others, seek entertainment, interact with people, or purchase goods and services online. Contrary, mobile phone usage is associated with the appearance of mental health problems such as addiction and depression, posture problems, and a decrease in study performance (Gupta et al., 2016; Oviedo-Trespalacios et al., 2019). In this essay, I would like to discuss how prolonged usage of handheld devices impacted my life and my views. More specifically, I want to examine the impact of telephones on my interaction with friends and my perceptions concerning the mental effects of the device application.
Mobile Device and Interaction with Peers
Having a mobile phone indeed made my life easier in many ways. The most crucial change happened with the way I communicate with my friends. Modern platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram provide a wide variety of options that can facilitate interaction and make it very close to real life. Now, if I send the message, I can accompany it with emoji faces that would reveal my emotions to the person with whom I have a conversation. Moreover I can make videos or take pictures and share them with others so that I do not need to spend a lot of time explaining my experience to them.
However, on the flip side, I feel that having mobile devices also made my “real-life” conversations less profound. It is hard to leave unnoticed the fact that quite often when my friends and I meet together, we spend more time looking at our own or each other’s phones rather than having actual discussions. We may show the pictures or the videos that depict our previous experiences to others, but this style of interaction hardly creates a new memorable experience itself. In other words, I feel that just showing something to another person on device does not create that special bond between people that appears during a good conversation. Therefore, I think that telephones have brought both good and bad to the way I communicate with others.
Mobile Phones’ Impact on Society’s Mental Abilities
Also, the usage of handheld devices impacted my views towards some issues related to the application of this technology. For instance, five or six years ago, I saw a TV program (I do not remember its name) that maintained that heavy reliance on mobile phones would gradually degrade individuals’ mental abilities. This program had a great impact on my believes regarding the social consequences of telephone usage, and I was quite worried about humanity’s potential future. However, since I have my own smartphone, I understood that such forecasts may actually be wrong as nowadays people are faced with increased and more diversified information on a daily basis than ever before. Therefore, I think that contrary to the aforementioned concerns, presently society members are more knowledgeable than our ancestors.
Conclusion
In summary, the current essay discussed how owning a mobile device impacted my interaction with friends and also my views concerning the negative influence of this technology on an individual’s mental abilities. As for the former, I argued that mobile phones (with the help of social media) greatly facilitated the way I communicate with peers due to the possibility of using emojis and share pictures and videos. On the other hand, it was noticed that this device worsens face-to-face communications as people spend more time connecting with the technology than with each other. Finally, it was analyzed that owning a telephone made me believe that this technology can actually facilitate knowledge despite some concerns.
References
Gupta, N., Garg, S., & Arora, K. (2016). Pattern of mobile phone usage and its effects on psychological health, sleep, and academic performance in students of a medical university. National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 6(2), 132-139.
Oviedo-Trespalacios, O., Nandavar, S., Newton, J. D. A., Demant, D., & Phillips, J. G. (2019). Problematic use of mobile phones in Australia… is it getting worse?. Frontiers in psychiatry, 10, 105.