Calling for Change: Controlling Our Smartphone Use

Photo by: Johan Larsson

By Diana Pedersen

CALLING FOR

CHANGE

“In the past 50

years we have

moved from

"mainframe"com

putersthat

needed their

own rooms to

ones that fit in a

p o c k e t . . . ”-Charles Arthur

Image by StarAlex1

These

hand-held

devices have

become an integral

part of our

everyday

lives.

Image by RomainToornier

9 9 . 8 % o f c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s

and 78% of teensownaMOBILE

P H O N E .N e a r l y h a l f o f t h o s e a r e

T O D A Y

Image by JorisLouwes

SMARTPHONES.

They allow

us

to connect

with

Image by Jason Comely

To capture photos…

Image by Steven Polunsky

and share our experiences…

…to

play

games…

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To ask questions…

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And get immediate answers…

Image by Johan Larsson

O r t o l o o k u p

O N - T H E - S P O Td i r e c t i o n s

A N Y T I M E ,A N Y P L A C E .

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Technology-enabled, we are able to be with one another, and

a l s o e l s e w h e r e , c o n n e c t e d t o

whereverwe want to be.-Sherry Turkle

Image by Tatsuo Yamashita

With so much to offer, people are

becomingDEPENDENTon their mobile

devices…

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…Using them as their primary source of

communication, and spending less time interacting

with the ones they are with.

Image by D. Sharon Pruitt

Young adults spend up to7hours a

day interacting with communication

technology, sending an average of

109.5 text messages each day…

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50% of smartphone owners sleep next to their

phone to make sure they don’t miss any calls, text

messages, or other updates during the night…

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And 62 percent of mobile phone users aged

18-24 immediatelygrab their phone after

w a k i n g u p .

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"I really need to have that

connection and that

attachment to my phone all

the time.”-Michael Weller, a

high school senior

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"We've sort of hit a tipping point. The

conversation has shifted from wow, isn't all this

technology cool to wow, how do we control it?”

– Aisha Sultan

Image by Phil Campbell

We moved from

conversation to

connection and

stopped realizing

that there is a

difference.

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HOW

CAN WE

CONTROL

IT?

Image by Pete

The solution is in our

hands. We must learn to

balanceour time. To live

in the moment, and stop

relying on our hand-held

devices to give us

purpose.

Image by thebarrowboy

"Don't take a zillion pictures and videos. There is

no need to document everything. Live your

experiences. They will be stored in your memory

for eternity.” –Janell B. Hofmann, parent of 13 year old

mobile user

Image by Mike Monaghan

Image by ZdenkoZivkovic

"Keep your eyes

up. See the world

happening around

you. Stare out a

window. Listen to

the birds. Take a

w a l k . Ta l k t o a

stranger. WonderwithoutGoogling.”–

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/mar/06/google-glass-threat-to-our-privacy

http://www.ctvnews.ca/more-youth-use-smartphones-to-log-online-u-s-report-1.1193559#ixzz2Qnxqu5cd

http://www.digitalhome.ca/2011/05/one-third-of-canadian-wireless-users-have-a-smartphone/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/study-gauges-our-facebook-mobile-addiction-and-its-through-the-roof/

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Best-Worst-Mobile/Part-IV/Your-cell-phone-and-you.aspx

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9714616/Mobile-phone-addiction-ruining-relationships.html

http://www.times-gazette.com/ap%20general%20news/2013/01/10/mom-goes-viral-with-son-s-phone-code-of-conduct

All images licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, and sourced from flickr.

Sources

Image by Phil Roeder