Curations:
Mobile Phone Addiction
Target audience: Secondary school to university students
Material to be expected: A 1-minute-long video and four photographs.
Lack of Social Interaction Curation
by Charlene Yan
Tim Fadek is a professional photographer from New York. This photo was taken at a cocktail reception for the launch of social media week. The photographer wanted to explore the question of whether outside of online chats, would social media make us more social in person. Fadek found out that most people at the party were tweeting about what was going on at the party. This picture was purposely taken in black and white, which makes use of the visual cue color, so as to emphasise the quiet mood of the party.
The contrast between black and white also emphasises the phones that the people are holding in contrast to the table and their hands which are white. There is also a gestalt law of similarity that groups the four people together because they all have phones and the phones look black in the image. The idea I took from this photo is that we can have a table with a group of people who are all on their phones and not having any social interaction. We could also do a close-up of just the hands holding the phones instead of showing the people’s faces so in a sense it means that the mobile addiction can happen to anyone.
This video “I Forgot My Phone”clearly highlights the fact that people who use their phones have reasonably less social interaction with others. The story begins in a womans’ perspective where she wakes up in the morning and her husband is using his phone instead of saying good morning to her. Then, she goes jogging and forgets to bring her phone, and a guy next to her is calling someone with his phone. Its almost as if she’s left out because she doesn’t have a phone. This video good, but I feel that it could have been stronger if it included more persuasive strategies like logos and ethos.
They could have included text to show how may people are actually addicted to their phones. What I liked about the video was the scene when she was having lunch with her friends. It included a range of shot sizes that ranged from a wide shot to set the scene and then switched to mid shots of people holding their phones and texting or reading. The camera shows people on their phones and includes the woman in the background looking annoyed and sad that people aren’t paying attention to her.
The idea we can use for our project is showing people using their phones everywhere in daily life. In the video, it shows people using their phones to text unnecessarily, take selfies when drinking cocktail or when at the beach. I believe filming different scenes of people on their phones will be make a persuasive argument for our video.
Mobile Phone Addiction:
Enslavement in the 21st Century?
by Vivian Tan
Handcuffs have always been associated with the idea of restraint and enclosure. As such, this picture paints a powerful image of enslavement to our mobile devices — a metonymic code for being entirely controlled by, or a slave to; either by way of speech or taken at its literal meaning.
This image highlights a critical issue in modern society — growing mobile addiction. It appeals to logic by reason (logos) that mobile addiction has reached the point where it can be associated with the idea of imprisonment and still remain relatable to its audience (evidence of phenomenon). By way of habituation, many of us have become so accustomed to seeing people all around on their mobile phones that our minds don’t consciously recognise that fact anymore- though we are aware that a problem does exist at its very core.
The image also portrays a sense of naiveness — the hands appeared to be engaged in some kind of mobile activity. It seeks to move people through emotional response that if you don’t become aware of this soon, this is what you and the world will become — slaves to your mobile devices. In today’s context, this picture is more relevant than before.
Stop Phubbing
“The act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention.”
The “Stop Phubbing” campaign went viral in 2013, addressing phubbing as a distinctive 21st century problem. The campaign was largely effective due to:
- Statistics (logos)
People generally trust things more when there are figures attached. Statements like “87% of teens… rather communicate via text…” were made on its website. While we doubt these figures to be accurate, we know for a fact that the prevailing idea behind them remains significant, and this is sufficient. The website also had a very cohesive overall theme — making visitors more inclined to participate readily.
2. Humour (pathos)
People remember and appreciate things better when they laugh — and that creates an emotional connection. Many materials found on the Stop Phubbing website and Facebook page evoke emotions such as joy and surprise, which in turn triggers secondary emotions such as interest, calmness and friendship. When people are happy, they are more likely to be attentive and stay on to find out more (about the message and clause). These materials are often presented in a manner that appeals to the logical mode, and are thus more readily accepted.
3. But above all, the campaign probably worked because we know that phubbing is real.
Phone addiction could lead to one’s fall — literally.
by Corrinne Kang
Humpty dumpty couldn’t leave his mobile phone; Humpty dumpty had a great fall.
This curation discusses adverse physical impacts on self and surrounding people due to mobile phone addiction.
1) Microsoft Windows 7 Phone Commercial
This commercial shows various ridiculous scenarios in which people still cannot look away from their phones. Some people miss out on wonderful things in their surroundings they could enjoy, others neglect tasks on hand leading to accidents, and worse still, some even cause discomfort and inconvenience to surrounding people. While many of these might be exaggerated for emphasis, I think it does bring to the viewer’s attention the real potential for inflicting harm to self and others because of mobile phone addiction. It brings out how things go unnoticed by those lost in their “mobile phone” world, and making viewers laugh at the absurdness of these problematic characters is a subtle yet strong persuasion for the viewers to not be like them. It appeals to the viewer’s desire to protect their own reputation and safety (pathos) — avoid the embarrassing and uncomfortable scenarios shown in the video.
The last scene gave the positive side that when one puts down his phone, he gets enjoy the moment. I think it helps a lot to show the benefits of curbing addiction after a whole video of its harms because it tells the viewer there’s a solution and a hope, which empowers the viewer with perceived efficacy.
2) Johns Hopkins University: Be a Road Scholar
The above two posters, which belong to the public safety campaign Be a Road Scholar, are focused on texting while walking (distracted walking) and are strategically targeted at university students. Simple yet smart use of visuals is employed in both images. The first features two tyre marks on the ground, with their ends fading away to indicate high speed. However, the marks also resemble bar charts. It links to the main caption on the picture, which implies that “street smart” is a higher “degree of intelligence” than “book smart” or “test smart”. The second features a crack, alluding to a prior accident.
The use of “degrees of intelligence”, “do the math” and “unless you want to become a statistic” ties in with the whole idea of being a “road scholar”, which all relate to university students’ desire to do well academically. Other than the logos of math, pathos is also employed in relation to the students’ pride. The posters are almost saying “if you’re really smart, you wouldn’t text while walking”.
These images are a good example of relating to the target audience based on their attitudes and wants. It is particularly useful because we also aim to target university students for our project.
Mobile Phone Addiction
by Tan Si Hui
This curation looks at some of the successful campaigns or advertisement regarding mobile phones addiction. Techniques utilized that attributed to the effectiveness in conveying of message are analyzed.
1. Stop Phubbing Around — By Coca Cola
In this video, Coca-Cola encourages mobile-phone users to withdraw from their screens and indulge in real-life moments. Within 3-weeks of release, this viral hit garnered over 22-million views, becoming Coca-Cola’s most popular YouTube video ever. The pathos approach and relatability are key lessons applicable to our project.
From cultural perspective, creative twist of online parlance makes the video relatable to anyone using social-media applications on mobile-phones. It captivates audience while wittily translate activities behind-the-screen to real-life experiences. For instance, viewers quickly grasp the analogy of posting pictures on Instagram when reference to popular hashtag #nofilter was made. Common internet acronyms like “LOL” and acts of checking-in, tagging, sharing, commenting and creating group-chats were also utilized. Similarly, we can tailor our video to target audience by using salient examples that are relatable. This highlights the problem when viewers recognize their daily-activities as symptoms of mobile-phone addiction.
Emotional appeal is also apparent (Pathos). Heart-warming scenes revolving around friends and families present the promise of happiness as one immerse in real-life pleasures, while the upbeat soundtrack promotes positivity and aspirations. Similarly, we can take a “softer” approach and portray benefits of curbing mobile-phone addiction, making it desirable for audience to adopt the change.
2. Phones Down, Bottoms Up — By Guinness
This is a beer advertisement by Guinness. The image depicts a pile of mobile-phones stacked in the shape of a classic Guinness glass on top of a bar counter. It encourages pub atmosphere of olden days whereby patrons engage in conversations instead of burying their heads into their screens.
The pathos approach is evident. The phrase “Enjoy responsibly. Phones down, please” makes an emotional plea for drinkers to immerse fully in the indulgence of nice beer and relaxed ambience as suggested by the dimly-lit background. Hence, viewers are more likely to be drawn to the advertisement.
From a historical perspective, the advertisement reminds me of “The Phone Stack”, a popular game aimed to curb mobile-phone interruptions when dining with family or friends. In this game, everyone relinquishes their phones, stacks them up and is not allowed to touch till the meal ends. The first person who fails to comply would pick up the tab. Like me, audiences with background knowledge will be able to link the advertisement to mobile-phone addiction instantaneously. In our project, we can consider incorporating earlier popular ideas and give it a new light so that audiences find it refreshing, yet able to connect to it easily.
