REFLECTION- I chose to do my final research project on the Societal Impacts and Effects of Smartphones. The reason I chose this topic is because with the accelerated advancement of technology, these devices are becoming increasingly popular in just about every aspect of our day to day lives. The impacts and effects weigh heavily on various areas of life such as business, health and wellness, and education along with many others. While may people only see smartphones as a tool to access just about anything one could think of, it is important to take note of the effects that are emerging as a result of smartphones use. There were many other sectors that were found during this research project that are also affected by smartphones. A few that stood out are social, generational, and communication. However, I chose to limit my research in an effort to enhance the depth of three sectors rather then briefly touching on several.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kendra Pierce
Professor Merkel
Comm 2500-400
August 2, 2015
Societal impacts/effects of Smartphones
Smartphones have become today’s need by aligning the oral communication mode to a more advanced method. The impact of the smartphones over society and new mode of living can’t be disregarded. These devices are becoming an addiction and impact areas such as education, business, health and society. The cultural morals and attitudes have been altered to a great extent with the invention of the mobile phone technology. The impacts of the smartphone have on society are proving adverse. The smart phones let individuals build a world of their own with culture and activities of their choice. Above all, this device provides the facility of connection to virtually anyone regaurdless of physical location. Smartphones are proving to have an increasing impact on health, business, education and social interactions; thus playing a pivotal role in our everyday life activities.
Smartphones have created an entirely new dimension for the business ventures and have positive and negative impacts in this area. The facilities mobile phone apps have created have resulted in an easily accessible desktop with millions of customizable additions, and have exposed it to the whole globe. There are many competitive advantages to using smartphones for business purposes. In addition to selecting the best analytics, Access to the internet on smartphones allows perpetual possibilities to market current and potential customers. Millions of applications and options are available that can assist in company expansion. These apps are beneficial not only for the company but also the customer as it can provide access to the company services, products, and information that were previously only available on site or through company web pages. Vendors can utilize their own designed mobile application technology and personalize the inter-phase they want to offer to their customers. The online marketplace that can be created with the help of mobile applications can be useful to build company brands and improve the sale along with enhancing the ease and satisfaction of the customers. This has also contributed to the ease and effectiveness of advertisement. This kind of marketing is targeted and effective in getting the desired customer demographics..
Unfortunately there are some adverse effects of the use of smartphones in the world of business. With all of the features and capabilities of the smartphone it is becoming increasingly difficult to conduct daily activity without them. This has lead many to form an addiction to their smartphones. As a result lower productivity, distractions and on the clock smartphone usage are all prevalent in the workplace ultimately leading to company's loss profits in time paid for personal smartphone use and improper time management. In addition, business etiquette has transposed as business mannerisms have been altered to texting instead of face to face business conduct as well as the use of emoticons and acronyms making their way into text/email communication. In addition business meetings, workplace settings and the like are now being disrupted with alerts, notifications, and personal calls. Resulting in bothersome distractions for not only the smartphone user but also for co-workers and potential customers observing the disruption.
Smartphones have revolutionized the traditional means of education and improved the accesability of educational resources. The value of education has been great throughout yesteryear, however, in the present day the need of education is ever increasing. Educational use of smartphones is now starting as young as infant age. Infants, toddlers, and children are benefiting from applications and online programs regarding counting, alphabet learning and sound identification in addition to number, word and color recognition. People of all ages are benefiting from basic fundamental learning material such as math, history, language, science, cognitive thinking and reasoning. Additionally smartphone users have access to how to videos and tutorials through various websites such as Ehow and Youtube. The internet has become an integral part of life and is a medium for students to search information and conduct coursework learning. Education seekers can get their needs fulfilled by learning new things with the help of Smarthphone technology (Kumar, 2011). With continual internet and application access, a vast pool of knowledge is available at the time of need. According to the Global Web Index, a survey was conducted which consisted of 170,000 adult internet users across 32 markets. Of these users only 9% report owning a smartwatch and 7% report owning a smart wristband. However, when comparing online adults, a whopping 80% own a smartphone and use it as their primary source of internet access (Flagship, 2015).
Distance education is another mean of education that has been made easy by the smartphones. It is a learning method that relies on the liberation of the students free from the restriction of the location and time and offers a great chance to get the education one may desire. Smartphones have helped students to use their time in a way that they can get education from a distant place easily and without changing the routine of their family life and workplace. This has allowed access to students and teachers outside of the typical lecture room.
There are however some negative effects of the smartphones for the students within and outside the classroom. This communication device has made it easier to maintain a social network connection in addition to many games and other entertainment activities that are available. This are known to cause a distraction for the students during study and class time. Students can use the phones to communicate with each other to cheat during exams and get the online information from the internet (CollegeDrees.com, 2011). The internet and app creation is an open market allowing material from just about any where to be posted. This can result in unverifiable material that will ultimately lead to false teachings. Infants and children utilizing these educational programs may unintentionally access age inappropriate websites or applications. Lose of hands on learning is also being accounted for as smartphone users gravitate to an online experience instead of hands on. Basic skills such as simple math, writing, spelling and grammar are also being impacted as smartphone users implement the use of smartphone features instead of the traditional methods of working through the problems by accessing elementary education fundamentals. Hazing and bullying can also be a misuse of the phones among students of any age.
The Smartphone has an important use in the healthcare department and users can utilize the Smartphone utility to access the health related services readily. Smartphones are used for many health purposes. In fact in young adults approximately 75% of 18-29 year old smartphone owners agreed to using their phone within the last year in order to search for health condition information. In addition, 62% of all smartphone users claim using it for health condition educational searching (Smith, 2015). One of the newest additions to the Smartphone, in terms of health is the use of telemedication. There are currently over 200 telemedicine networks, with 3,500 service sites in the US. Nearly 1 million Americans are currently using remote cardiac monitors and in 2011, the Veterans Health Administration delivered over 300,000 remote consultations using telemedicine (American Telemedicine Association). Price comparisons of different services can be made easily and the prescription can be easily checked for validity from the information over the internet. Apps are also available that assist in tracking the record of individual body statistics, exercise and diet routines as well as blood pressure (Byrne, 2010). Medical calculators, calorie counters, drug reference guides and many healthy lifestyle applications. Moreover, health surveys can be done very easily on the internet and the users have the ease to respond by their Smartphone that make the audience large for the survey.
However, on the negative side, these services can be harmful if used without care and concern. As Cohen from CNN stated, health resources over the internet and smartphones can prove to be dangerous if there is a lack of face to face interaction between the doctor and the patient (Cohen, CNN, 2011) In addition, spinal disorders and neck pain may result from the pressure that is being placed on necks and spines while using smartphones. Loss of vision and carpal tunnel syndrome are also resulting from the individual use of smartphones (Kumar, 2012).
In conclusion, smartphones have changed more than just the means of communication in various areas of life. This change is proving inevitable as technology surpasses the means once thought to be impossible. Smartphones have become a great tool for individuals that are concerned about their health. Telemedicine and applications are now available that can assist in many areas in the health and wellness industry. However, caution needs to be taken as to the position we are placing our bodies in when we use these hand held computer devices as we are physically injuring our bodies as the outcome of poor positions and smartphone habits.
The use of smartphones can be adverse as it depends upon each individual user and how they make use of this technology device. Smartphones can however be a considered a great tool however, the solution to many of these adverse effects can be solved if the manufactures, society, and technologists understand and prepare to implement adequate change in habits and accept the responsibility that accompanies the usage of the device.
Work Cited:
Alsubaie, Ahmed. "Emerging Technology." Ahmed Alsubaie (APPT6114 Societal Context ). 23 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 Aug. 2015.
"American Telemedicine Association." Telemedicine FAQs. Web. 24 July 2015.
Cohen, Elizabeth, and Sabriya Rice. "Do You Obsessively Check Your Smartphone?" CNN. Cable News Network, 28 July 2011. Web. 2 Aug. 2015.
"Device: Q1 2015 | Flagship Report Series." Device: Q1 2015 | Flagship Report Series. Web. 2 Aug. 2015.
Kumar, Arun. "Health Problems Caused by Smartphones Overuse."Problems Caused by Smartphones Overuse. 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 28 July 2015.
Kumar, Manoj. "Impact of the Evolution of Smartphones in Education Technology." 1 Aug. 2011. Web. 2 Aug. 2015.
"Negative Effects of Smartphones in the Classroom."CollegeDegrees.com. 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 2 Aug. 2015.
Smith, Aaron. "U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. 1 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 July 2015.
