A Study on The Obsession of Human Beings to Cell Phones

Introduction

When they were first invented, cell phones were incredible devices that allowed you to communicate with anyone else who happened to own one. Since their creation, cell phones have advanced to the point where they are essentially mini-computers that can fit in any pocket or purse. As a result, cell phone addiction is a serious problem among many teens and adults around the world, and it is only getting worse as technology advances further. There have been many cases of death due to cell phones, as well as people not paying attention to anything else, and even people letting social media and the like take over their lives.

A Study on The Obsession of Human Beings to Cell Phones

In the past few years, one of the biggest sensations about cell phones has been "selfies". Selfies are essentially pictures taken with the front-facing camera of your phone, and people everywhere have been taking them for years now. One of the saddest elements of these selfies is the extent to which people will go to take a ridiculous one. There are people who take selfies in all sorts of dangerous situations, and as such, there have been multiple reported instances where people have died taking them. According to Cailey Rizzo, approximately 12 people died from taking a selfie from January to September of 2015. By comparison, 8 people had died due to shark attacks (Rizzo, 2015). This sensation has slowly become very dangerous, and the number will most likely only rise as time goes on. Luckily, organizations and companies have been taking precautions to stop these accidents from happening. Disney has prevented the use of selfie sticks (sticks that hold your phone in order to take a better picture) at all of their parks to make sure that these devices do not cause any sort of injuries or accidents. Simple measures like these can end up ensuring that the number of fatalities over something so simple gets reduced back down to zero.

Impact on Work Productivity

Cell phones are one of the biggest reasons that a lot of young adults don't do their jobs properly or simply ignore their job completely. A lot of job environments that hire younger employees seem to be plagued by said employees not paying attention, thanks to their phones. With the number of things a phone can be used for, a lot of teenagers will simply ignore their responsibilities in favor of playing with their phones all day. This reduces a lot of productivity that some businesses can have. Businesses such as McDonald's or Burger King may suffer simply because some of the teenage employees choose to use their phones rather than actually do their proper job. This can also create a negative image of other teenagers for the adults that run these businesses, and the other teens who may not be as irresponsible suffer as a result. This can make it much harder for certain teenagers to get rid of these negative opinions, and make it harder for them to be seen as anything but childish by other adults. A simple solution for this would be if some teenagers simply followed the rules and didn't use their phones when instructed, but sadly, those types of things are unavoidable. Encouraging self-discipline and responsibility among young employees could be beneficial in addressing this issue.

The Role of Social Media

One of the biggest time-consuming aspects of having a smartphone is all of the social media websites that you can access. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are always available when your phone is around, and it allows people to post whatever they want, whenever they want. These sites can be very addicting, and while they can be nice for connecting with people, they can also cause a lot of problems and even fights. Many people don't think about what they are saying or posting on the internet, and they just put whatever they want to without giving it a second thought. This can create a lot of problems, as what you say may offend someone or make them very angry. This can cause a lot of fights both online and offline since both cyber and physical bullying can cause a lot of violent and negative emotions in people. Many people get into physical confrontations at school or work over a simple argument on Twitter that turned sour, and they decided to settle it very poorly. It is also very easy to make a lot of accounts or get your followers to gang up and attack someone. While it may not affect everyone, someone who spends a lot of their time on these sites may be overwhelmed by a lot of negative emotions and harsh words all at once. This has led to people committing suicide or becoming depressed in the past, and it is a serious problem for people who take social media very seriously. It's the sad reality, but a lot of people think that they are safe from any sort of harm when they say all of these negative things behind a screen, and a lot of it has to do with how easy it is to post whenever and whatever you would like. Implementing educational programs on digital etiquette and emotional intelligence could help mitigate some of these issues.

Conclusion

With how advanced cell phones have gotten, addiction was almost something that could never have been avoided. Regardless, it has gotten to a point that is very ridiculous and almost harmful for a lot of people. The many different ways that a person can cause harm to themselves or others is enough, and there should be some sort of monitoring or moderation. Some way for people to acknowledge and get past this addiction would be perfect. Sadly, there is not really any way to stop people from always wanting to keep their phone near them and feeling uneasy whenever it is gone. This means that it is the responsibility of the owner to make sure that they are using their phone at an appropriate time and learn to live without it as well. Encouraging mindfulness and balance in technology use can lead to healthier relationships with our devices.

References

Rizzo, C. (2015). More people have died from selfies than shark attacks this year. Travel + Leisure. Retrieved from http://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/more-people-have-died-from-selfies-than-shark-attacks