Mobile Devices 24/7?

Mobile Devices have revolutionised the way with live, work and interact with one another. Like any new romance we are in the honeymoon stage where we are in love with our devices, we check in with them numerous times a day. Although some cracks are showing in terms of the social costs of being switched on 24/7.

 Some of this weeks learning’s are based on a book by Sherry Turkle called ‘Alone Together’ the title explains a lot. The pressure to be on 24/7 are turning our everyday movements into social media stage performances where our friends our becoming our fans. We are sadly starting to expect more from technology than we do from each other.

Another huge crack that is showing is with our children; the current generation that doesn’t know a life without devices. They unwittingly look at us for guidance yet like any pioneers we don’t really know what we are doing ourselves.

At the breakfast table parents are busy checking their emails via their mobile devices whilst ostracising their kids. But I ask the question how is this different to a parent reading the morning paper?

Jenelle Burley Hoffman  (a clever mum) drew up this  CONTRACT to give to her son when she bought him his first mobile phone. She wants him to ‘coeexist with technology and not be ruled by it’. 

 This contract should be rolled out to the general populous, bringing some rules into the social etiquette around using mobile devices in public.   Here are 3 of my favourite from the list; 

Turn it off, silence it, put it away in public. Especially in a restaurant, at the movies or while speaking with another human being.

Don’t take a zillion pictures and videos. There is no need to document everything. Live your experiences.

Leave your phone home sometimes…It is not alive or an extension of you. Learn to live without it.

I would like to see a movement, wherein if these rules aren’t followed you can run the risk of being seen as a social outcast. In an article titled ‘Digital Divide’ by Hans Geser, he can see a future where the mobile phone becomes a negative status symbol building an affinity with lower class culture therefore a conspicuous absence would be an indicator of positive social distinction.

So like any good and healthy relationship we need to know the boundaries and how to behave in order to show respect and grow in the right way. At the risk of becoming a disconnected society we need to still get excited and embrace the plethora of technological opportunities whilst not forgetting those around us.

Burley Hoffman, J 2013, ‘Gregorys IPhone Contract’ http://www.janellburleyhofmann.com/postjournal/gregorys-iphone-contract/#.UpchmL8qRV4, viewed 27 November 2013

Geser, H 2006, 'Is the Cell Phone Undermining the Social Order?: Understanding Mobile Technology from a Sociological Perspective', Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 19, 1, p. 8, MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 29 November 2013.

Turkle, S 2012, ‘Alone Together’, Basic Books, EBSChost, viewed 27 November 2013