Can you cope 24 hours without your phone?
Have you ever reached out for your back pocket to discover your phone was no longer there? Ever rapidly tapped on ALL the pockets of your coat and still feel nothing? Your phone is gone. Just like that, in an instance. You feel helpless and frustrated. The day feels almost empty without your phone. This is because, for many people, our phones are not simply just a small device to make calls on.
Not too long ago, the screen on my phone had smashed leaving my phone no longer responsive. I could not make calls, could not listen to music, or noticeably message anyone to tell them my phone had broken *cries* All I could do was walk to the phone shop to get it repaired. Even this was a challenge as I could not use Google Maps as I normally would to get to the location of the shop. Although it only took 30 minutes for my phone to be brought back to life, I remember feeling rather lost without it. This led me to think just how dependent I am on my phone. Kaun and Schwarzenegger (2014) highlight that being disconnected for a few hours or even a few minutes, creates of sense of ‘missing out’ for some individuals when it comes to what our friends and celebrities have posted.
When we lose our phones, it can feel like ‘death’ (Turkle, 2017), making us feel disconnected and anxious when we are without them. This is partly because our mobile phones are omnipresence as we carry our devices with us 24/7, wherever we go (even to the bathroom!). The reason it can feel like this is because of the gratifications our phones can offer us. We use our phones to get from one place to another, to access instant information, to take photos and videos of things/places we come across as well as to listen to music. There is also a sense of interconnectivity in which we can access all types of information and keep in touch with friends and family all over the world (Thompson, 1995). Given this, it becomes very easy to be attached to our phones, to the point where it can become a significant value to us, perhaps for some, even more than human beings.
We live in an age where digital media has become ubiquitous. Approximately 95% of households in the UK own a mobile phone. This has become so normal that the idea of meeting someone who does not own a phone would be considered ‘strange’ or ‘weird’. Our phones have become embedded in our daily lives that we often consume them unconsciously. For instance, when traveling on a bus I would find myself flickering through different apps on my phone, without any real significance. Checking our messages, notifications, ‘likes’, news updates have become very habitual for many of us.
How dependent are you on your phone? How much do rely on it?
It is important to note that being disconnected from our devices is not a bad thing. Every so often we should remove ourselves from technology and embrace the world around us.
References:
Kaun, A., & Schwarzenegger, C. (2014). “No media, less life?” Online disconnection in mediatized worlds. First Monday, 19(11). doi: 10.5210/fm.v19i11.5497
Thompson, J. (1995). The media and modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Turkle, S. (2017). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other (3rd ed.). New York: Basic Books.
