It was a sign of the times this morning in my student house
when I woke up and immediately spiraled into a state of panic when I reached
for my mobile phone on my bedside table, only to find that it wasn't there. My
palms grew sweaty, my throat went dry and my heart started to suffer palpitations.
(I may be exaggerating slightly, but we all understand where I'm coming from.) Fortunately,
it turned out that I had lovingly put it on charge last night before I went to
sleep, it was still very close by and world war III had not broken out while I
slept. Unfortunately, it's not something that has never happened before as I'm
waking up, going to sleep or going about my general daily business which just
goes to show how sad my existence has become.
Ever since I received my first mobile phone at the tender
age of thirteen, it's become my version of a rich man's credit card. I never
leave home without my phone. In fact, my phone is constantly with me, whether I
am leaving home or not. The thought of being out of touch with the world just
makes me panic and puts me on edge. Why I can no longer enjoy the company of
one person without checking my emails, text messages, voicemails, Facebook
notifications and Tweets just baffles me.
Thankfully, it's not just me. According to research
conducted at the end of last year, 29% of people say that they can't live
without their mobile phone. The study also showed that only 12% of mobile phone
owners says that they have been told that they're spending too much time on
their phones, but 39% say that their family, friends and acquaintances will
complain if they don't answer calls/ texts fast enough. It seems to me that a startlingly
high percentage of people can no longer cope unless they have something to keep
them from becoming even the slightest bit bored. And mobile phones do this job
exceedingly well.
But who am I to preach about this? I'm just a lowly student
who is caught up in the clutches of owning an iphone, going about my daily business
whilst being ruled by technology like most of the population. I love Facebook,
Twitter, texting and emailing and I probably couldn't go a day without doing
any. But I equally hate the feeling that my phone can demand my immediate
attention above all else or, even worse, how I am now programmed to gauge my
relationships with people based on how quickly they reply to my Facebook
message, tweet, text or email. From my boyfriend not replying to my text
messages instantaneously to my friends not replying to my tweets whilst they
chat to others on Facebook, it's excruciating and realistically, unhealthy. I
know that the correct response to these situations is to leave my phone at home
and venture outdoors to meet people, but I always feel like I've lost a limb
whenever I am parted from my beloved iphone.
 |
| Auto cowrecks.com |
As hypocritical as it may sound, it's not healthy people,
and I think that a growing majority of society have started to think of their
phones as less of a tool and more a form of addictive entertainment. If a text
message comes through to our phones, does that immediately mean that our lives
grind to a halt so that we can read it? Likewise, if a phone call comes at a
bad time, (say whilst riding a roller coaster), does that mean that we can't push
past the urges to answer? For most of us, yes. Yes it does.
The same can be said for sitting in restaurants or the
shopping centres when people have more than a minute to kill - the mobile
phones come out. They send text messages, play games, check the latest news and
emails, (naturally, something earth shattering has happened since they last
checked two minutes ago), they do anything to make sure that they don't become
bored for ten seconds.
Why are we so addicted to our mobile phones and all the
technology we've accumulated? Perhaps we could live without it, (for an hour at
least), and get back to the good old fashioned ways of communication. Perhaps
we could read newspapers instead of checking websites every five seconds for
our news updates. Perhaps we could get past our computer screens and actually communicate with each other without the benefit of being able to do so from the comfort of our own beds. It makes me sad that these reforms just aren't possible anymore with bullshit technology addictions being introduced into society from left, right and centre
to make us feel a bit better about the whole scenario, as seen below;
1) The average mobile phone addict
Nomophobia
 |
An exaggerated, inexplicable and illogical fear of being
without a mobile phone, power source or service area. In short, the fear of
being away from a mobile phone or being out of contact with others.
Person 1: Do you want
to go camping tonight?
Person 2: No. I have
nomophobia
Ah the mobile phone addicts. Most of us fit into this category
- we take our mobile phones everywhere and anywhere, taking advantage of the
fact that it is now possible to make phone calls from just about anywhere with
your phone. Let's face it, we all take advantage of those unlimited minutes at
each and every opportunity and we all love our phones a bit too much.
Unfortunately, those opportunities fail to evaporate once we are inside public
bathroom stalls and I'm finding that bathroom teleconferences are starting to
get increasingly tedious.
2) The text addict.
Textaphrenia
Being addicted to text messaging. Can manifest into thinking
you've heard or felt a new text message vibration when there is no message.
Dammit, I just
suffered from a bullshit disorder when I thought my phone vibrated. I'll call
it Textaphrenia.
These ones are easy to spot due to the large, overdeveloped
thumbs and the inclination to look the slightest bit cross eyed due to
constantly staring at mobile phone screens. The tri-tone of an incoming text
message can only be likened to cocaine or alcohol to them. There's no way
possible to resist it, and they wouldn't even dream of trying to.
3) The internet junkie.
Internet addiction
disorder (IAD)
A person who is addicted to the internet. If there is a lack
of internet access in the immediate area, these people will suffer from withdrawal
symptoms.
Let me just blog about
that.
Internet junkie's spend hours at a time on the computer at
home and so, internet enabled mobile phones are a way for them to leave the
house without developing those withdrawal symptoms mentioned above. They are in
a unending loop on constantly checking sites for the latest news, Facebook
notifications, Tweets, weather, forum updates and so on. Most of us, especially
students, fit into this category, which is what I refer to as the 'normal
category'. (With nothing better to do than degrees, can you really blame us?) The
more abnormal branch of this category, however, seem to think that the world
actually cares that the hamburger they just gorged on in Disneyworld gave them
a severe heartburn. I speak for myself, and more than likely, everyone when I
say that we can cope without every intricate detail of your lives. Really.
I am coming to a point, I promise.
Of course, these phones can and often do make our lives
easier and, as I've already said, I genuinely don't know how I would survive
without mine, (though I'd like to give it a go one day.) What I don't agree
with, however, is what technology has done to people. It absolutely baffles me
- we spend our time and energy planning holidays, family get togethers and
reunions of friends that we haven't seen in years - only to spend those times
ignoring everyone and everything around us so that we can play with our damn phones.
Don't get me wrong, I have enormous sympathy for anyone who has broken down, is
going into labour or is facing some sort of other genuine crisis that requires
the phone service to make an urgent call, but can't the rest of the population
who aren't stranded, impregnated or in crisis chill out? Let's face it people,
being temporarily disconnected may actually be a good thing.
Now excuse me while I publish this blog, Facebook and Tweet
it, email it to my parents and call my Nan to tell her it's finally online.
