The Negative Effects Of Smartphones On Relationships And Communication And The Remedies Of Smartphone Addiction

Surname

Name

Institution

Course

Unit

Instructor

Submission Date

The Negative Effects of Smartphones on Relationships and Communication and the

Remedies of Smartphone Addiction

In the US there are as many mobile phones as users. According to a recent

research by Nielsen Holdings (2013), 94 per cent of mobile users aged between 16 years

and above, own other types of mobile phones while 56 % of all mobile users in the US

own smartphones. Smartphones directly and indirectly affect both our relationships and

communication. As much the new mobile phone technologies (smartphones) have their

share of positivity since they have made life less stressful and simpler, they are riddled

with consequences. Smartphones have features like text messaging, touch screen, digital

camera, phone calling and software applications like games, social media websites, e-

mail services and web browsers.

Smartphones that are existent on the market presently consist of hardware alike to

personal computers that distinguish them from features of cell phones like memory, a

processor and operating systems that process and execute all mobile phone functions.

With the introduction of smartphones that have computer like operating systems, the

mobile phone market has gone through a revolution. Smartphones offers a

Surname

multidimensional platform that presents myriad communication and social interactions

that common cell phones do not provide (Banerjee et al, pp 1-21).

Negative Effects of Smartphones on Communication

Smartphones and mobile phones in general distract communication and has been

found to affect cognitive function in numerous situations among them learning in

classrooms and driving on our roads (Kuznekoff, Jeffrey & Scott, pp 223-252). There

have been cases where people use mobile phones while at the same driving, and this has

caused many accidents and led to loss of lives and property.

Second, the use of mobile phones and smartphones has affected face-face

interactions (Addo, pp 47-60). This is because smartphones have consumed people into

both online and in-built games that are addictive and engaging. Through applications like

whatsapp, face book, Intstagram and Snapchat, people have developed tendencies of

communicating to both people they know and those they don’t know through text

message and chat messages, hence people no longer see eye to eye while communicating.

Texting that is a major activity in smartphone use has led to social anxiety in the

way we communicate. According to a research by Grisak (2010), one of the respondents

he interviewed said that it is easy to say things when you don’t look at a person eye to

eye. We may say things that we probably won’t say in eye-to-eye communication. All in

all, smartphone text messaging has damaged the way people communicate with each

other because the users are comfortable with texting but very poor in face-to-face

communication (Turkle, p2).

Another issue with texting either on social media or the traditional text messaging

avenues on smartphones is the anxiety it creates when an individual sends a text message

Surname

and the recipient does not give a response back to the texting party in the reasonable time

scale (Skierkowski, Dorothy, and Rebecca, pp 744-756). This is to say that in the text

message communication a sender at times does not receive feedback from the receiver

hence making communication incomplete. This does not happen in face-to-face

communication as conversation flows. If a question is presented by an individual, the

respondent responds even if it is non-verbal and if a comment is made, a person can

respond.

Messages can also be lost while using mobile phone text messaging platforms,

hence causing confusion (Xu et al, pp 25). Some of the ways through messages are lost

are through grammatical mistakes, spelling errors and punctuation mistakes. In a nutshell,

text messaging is a short hand whose efficiency and convenience cannot be ascertained.

Whereas it can rapidly convey information in real time, it is not the best from of

communication since it does not allow complete communication of thoughts (Rosen, pp

26-45).

Negative Effects of Smartphone on Relationships

Smartphones has also been instrumental in affecting many relationships since its

inception. Ones attachment to her or his phone sabotages once attachments with the

people they love. Numerous researches have been conducted concerning how mobile

phones affect relationships and some indicate that smartphones have positive influence

since it makes it easy for people to be in touch with loved ones through calls and text

messaging makes people happier and more secure in relationships. Other research also

shows that there are negative effects of smartphones on relationships. Real life

Surname

interactions are destroyed when an individual feels the urge of checking his or her, and

the distraction of a phone.

But smartphones are more demanding and invasive of our time, connecting people

to the world in more ways compared to the analogue phones do. A group of researchers

investigated the negative roles that smartphones play in their relationships. The research

was conducted among 170 college students who were in committed relationships to

investigate the role of their smartphones on their relationships.

According to the study, Psychology of Popular Media Culture, college students

were asked to respond to their use of smartphones: how dependent they were on the

gadget, and how long it would be a problem to do without it for a single day. They then

responded to the questions (Kaufman et al, pp 1).

According to the survey, it was inconsequential how much an individual used

their smartphone, but how much he or she needed the device. In most cases individuals

who depend more on their smartphones are likely to be less stable in their romantic

relationships. The research also asserts that people who are more dependent on their

smartphones indicated that they were less certain about their partnerships. And just like in

most relationships the research showed that people who had partners that are heavily

dependent on their smartphones were less satisfied in their relationships (Kaufman et al,

pp 1).

People get jealous when their partners spend more time on their smartphones than

they spend with the partners. Personally, “I’m more likely to think my relationship is

doomed the more I believe my partner needs that thing,” says Mathew Lapierre, a

Communication expert and professor in the Communication Department at the University

Surname

of Arizona, who did the study together with a former undergraduate student Kaufman.

“It’s not use; it’s the psychological relationship to that device.”

Smartphones also negatively affect relationships due to the easy access to

phonographic materials due to its easy access to the internet. These ponographic

materials may include explicit videos, nude pictures and x rated publications. With the

advent of Whats app, facebook, instagram and snapchat people can exchange nudes,

videos and explicit literature online. The effect of these ponographic content is enormous

on ones psychology and in their relationships. The fantasy seen in these ponographic

material may drive somebody to want to be like the models who act in the films or pose

in the nudes, either in terms of their body physique or prowess in bed. As a result if their

partners do not match up their fantasy expectations, people may resort to cheating on

their partners in search of the fantasy derived from ponographic content. Also these

ponographic content are addictive and may make either of the partners in a relationship to

be ever glued to her or his smartphone watching ponography while leaving the other half

without any attention. To the aggrieved partner lack of attention may lead to annoyance,

depression or even relationship breakups (Lee et al, pp. 433).

Remedies of Smartphone Addiction and Negative Impact

There are numerous ways through which negative effects of smartphones or

smartphone addiction can be put under control. Whereas you can undertake the measures

individually, an addiction is a hard thing to beat, especially when the temptation is always

easily accessible. It can be tempting to go back to the old usage patterns. Therefore, it is

essential to look for support either from family and friends or professional therapists.

Surname

To enable you to easily diagnose your problem areas, it is essential to keep a log

of how and when to use smartphones for non-work activities (Perlow, pp 1). There are

apps that can help track the time one spends on the phone. Are their days or times you

use your smartphone more? Are their activities you could do instead of focusing on your

smartphone? A more understanding of how you use your smartphone will critically help

you create time for it, and the people you love.

Second, recognize what triggers you to reach your phone. Find out whether you

reach your phone more when bored or lonely. If you are depressed, stressed or anxious,

for example, excessive use of smartphones may be a self-soothing way of overcoming the

rocky moods. Instead of using your smartphone as an escape of your stresses, it is wise to

find more effective and healthier ways of managing your moods, like practicing

techniques of relaxation like exercising, listening to music or interacting with friends.

Third, to overcome negativities of smartphones or smartphone addiction you will

need to strengthen your support system. This is to say that you should set aside time for

family and friends. In case you are shy, there are avenues of overcoming social

awkwardness without totally relying on the internet and social media sites on

smartphones. This can be possible when you find people with the same interests, try to

reach out to collegues at work by joining book clubs, sports teams, volunteering in

community activities and enrolling for education classes. Through these avenues, you

will be able to physically interact more with people hence enhancing your

communication and relationship with people (Perlow, pp 9).

Next, you can turn of your smartphones at times, especially when playing with

kids, while having dinner and in meetings. This would help evade disagreements that

Surname

could arise due to your concentration on your smartphones. When going to bed, do not

carry your tablet or smartphone to bed. Turn off the smartphone devices or leave them in

another room since just a single call may disrupt sleep for your loved ones. Also the blue

light that appear on the screen when a message is received could disrupt sleep or a good

romantic encounter. Alternatively instead of reading eBooks on your tablet or

smartphones, adopt a culture of reading books. Through this you cultivate a culture of

getting information through books and drop the dependency on social sites that are

characteristic of smartphones (Royal, pp 103).

Lastly, remove some of the social media apps on your phone (Parikh, Sagar, and

Paulina, pp 13-17). You can choose to remove Whatsapp, Snapchat and Instagram from

your phone since they rarely represent the reality of life and remain with more credible

ones like Twitter and Facebook. People who live of the fantasy social sites exaggerate the

reality of their lives, while brushing over the disappointments and doubts of life we all

experience. So instead of spending much time trying to communicate false images of you

instead of conveying the mirror image you. Spending less time comparing your self and

your partner to the poster girls and boys on social media will help you accept your partner

as they are.

Surname

WORKS CITED

Addo, Augustine. "The adoption of mobile phone: how has it changed us socially?"

Issues in Business Management and Economics 1.3 (2013): 47-60.

Banerjee, Nilanjan, et al. "Virtual compass: relative positioning to sense mobile social

interactions." Pervasive computing (2010): 1-21.

Kaufman, James C., and Joanne Broder Sumerson. "Welcome to Psychology of popular

media culture." Psychology of Popular Media Culture 1.S (2011): 1.

Kuznekoff, Jeffrey H., and Scott Titsworth. "The impact of mobile phone usage on

student learning." Communication Education 62.3 (2013): 233-252.

Lee, Tak Yan, and Diego Busiol. "A Review of Research on Phone Addiction Amongst

Children and Adolescents in Hong Kong." International Journal of Child and Adolescent

Health 9.4 (2016): 433.

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (2013). The Mobile Consumer: A Global Snapshot. In Nielsen.

Retrieved June 11, 2017.

Parikh, Sagar V., and Paulina Huniewicz. "E-health: an overview of the uses of the

Internet, social media, apps, and websites for mood disorders." Current opinion in

psychiatry 28.1 (2015): 13-17.

Surname

Perlow, Leslie A. Sleeping with your smartphone: How to break the 24/7 habit and

change the way you work. Harvard Business Press, 2012.

Royal, Chadwick, et al. "Digital Wellness: Integrating Wellness in Everyday Life with."

Handbook of Research on Transformative Digital Content and Learning Technologies

(2016): 103.

Rosen, Christine. "Our cell phones, ourselves." The New Atlantis 6 (2004): 26-45.

Skierkowski, Dorothy, and Rebecca M. Wood. "To text or not to text? The importance of

text messaging among college-aged youth." Computers in Human Behavior 28.2 (2012):

744-756.

Turkle, Sherry. "Stop googling. Let’s talk." The New York Times. Retrieved from

http://www. nytimes. com/2015/09/27/opinion/sunday/stop-googling-lets-talk. html

(2015).

Xu, Heng, Hock Hai Teo, and Hao Wang. "Foundations of SMS commerce success:

lessons from SMS messaging and co-opetition." System Sciences, 2003. Proceedings of

the 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on. IEEE, 2003.

Surname

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."