Research Packet: MY PERSONAL ARSENAL FOR THE COMING APOCALYPSE

Research Packet: MY PERSONAL ARSENAL FOR THE COMING APOCALYPSE 

   Phone-Zombies are everywhere. Whether you’re just innocently walking down the street, having a drink of coffee at Tim Hortons or simply sitting in a classroom, you’ll notice a horde of bloodshot eyed, neck aching, and tedious individuals hiding themselves from the real world like an ostrich with its head underground in fear. Some people only lift their head to get a glimpse once in a while and try and create an equilibrium between their real life and their social media masquerade, while others have no interest in the world around them and, thus, spend hours on developing their profile online. As I pondered over these peculiar persons, curiosity struck, if a person spent most of his life concealed by his handheld device, would he lack, or somehow lose, the necessary skills to speak with another individual face-to-face?

      The answer to my research question would affect society as a whole, and could give society a wake-up call on how we use our Smartphones and other handheld devices. I personally think that using such devices could definitely regress basic socialization skills and could be shown by emphasizing how one would use such devices in contrast to when they were first introduced. Strengthening this key point, one could look at calling time in America vs amount of words produced by phone users when forming a text message or online post and demonstrate how one nowadays would rather text a various amount of words than call for a given minute just to avoid any sense of interaction. This could as well be shown using a survey where one would ask their preferred method of communication.

         The word adolescent has been used in the research question to limit the age group of analysis. The key word in its definition is ‘developing’, which would introduce a sub-question on whether using such devices could encumber future generation’s development process and would they be better off not using Smartphones till a certain age. This kind of sub-question would be in the best interest of parents who wouldn’t want their children to lack basic social skills and would want nothing but the best for their kids. Also, the word regress has also been used to highlight a constant decrease in social skills that could also depict a decreasing rate for society in the future; doing so would require one to compare and contrast generations from when mobile phones were first introduced to today’s modern society.

          Moreover, using the word ‘could’, this question focuses on analyzing the affect Smartphones have on the growing ages that range from 8-18 and could possibly lead to a creation of a possible solution. Personally, I believe that the research will demonstrate that, in most cases, it does regress the skills needed for face-to-face interaction and the basis of lack of experience, things could be done easier through text (like breaking up), and, created recently by Domino’s Pizza, ordering pizza through texting just a Pizza Emoji as a Tweet to Domino’s (a small emoticon of a pizza pretty much). Just like how capitalism altered to attract consumerism through promoting individualism, it seems that capitalism is trying to take full advantage of this change in socialization that it could be generating a negative impact on society’s future.

         Finally, a question that also might arise through this research is if we really need face-to-face interaction. It seems that some may argue that such communication offers a sense of weakness as some can be able to read body movement; furthermore some argue that it can create unnecessary embarrassment or conversation such as talking to a friend with a black eye that you are trying not to show or in the case of trying to tell a friend you simply don’t have time to chat. As liberal as I am, I cannot see people living in a world that lacks micro-sociology, let alone America living such a lifestyle. It is when you physically meet a person where you can begin judging them and use non-verbal cues to read the opposite person’s reaction and emotion, and one could use that to create their next move in conversation.

Bibliography

Allen, Joseph, David Szwedo and Amori Yee Mikami. “Social Networking Site Use Predicts Changes in Young Adults’ Psychological Adjustment”. Journal of Research on Adolescence. Volume 22. Issue 3 (September 2012): 453-466. Web. 10 November 2015. < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3482112>

Published on September 1st 2012, the authors took 89 participants and interviewed them throughout a year to offer an observational, self-report and peer-report on the status of each individual, while also looking at posted pictures as predictors of psychological amendments overtime. Albeit the study could have been an alteration on what reality could be due to a possible Hawthorn effect, it is nevertheless reliable and relevant as it demonstrates how one seeks social acceptance and how when reacts when acceptance has not been achieved (depression).

File, Thom and Camille Ryan. “Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2013”. US Consensus. November 2014. Web. 10 November 2015. <https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/acs-internet2013.pdf>

Published on November 2014, the official US Census on the use of internet in the year 2013 offers an accurate, well as accurate as one can get, on the statistics of internet usage in America. This would help to create a solid understanding on the percentage of US residents who could be impacted socially by this progress in technology. It also focuses on what parts of America have more or less access and usage and how the population of the less progressive States may contrast to their counterparts in certain areas.

Foehr, Ulla, Victoria Rideout and Donald Roberts. “Generation M^2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year- Olds”. Kaiser Family Foundation. 1 January 2010. Web. 10 November 2015.   < https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/8010.pdf>

Published on January 1st 2010, The Kaiser Family Foundation focused its extensive study on the youth of America (ages 8-18) and looked at the effect of technology on young people’s daily lives; this was achieved through asking questions about how children are using media, effects on social life, effects on their grades at school, and even psychological questions, such as how they usually feel at school and their relationship with their parents.

Przybylski, Andrew and Netta Weinstein. “Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality”. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Volume 30. Issue 3 (May 2013). 237-246. Web. 10 November 2015. <http://spr.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/07/17/0265407512453827.full.pdf+html>

Published on July 19th 2012, this study is the most important source of the bunch as it focuses on the presence of such hand-held devices, its impact on normal conversation, and one’s empathy based on observation to the given topic of conversation at hand. The results are outstanding and are in favor of the research question, and would outline how one’s relationship with the people they care about is slowly swept away once they enter the dark realms of social media.

Smith, Aaron. "US Smartphone Use in 2015". Pew Research Center. 1 April 2015. Web. 10 November 2015 <http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/03/PI_Smartphones_0401151.pdf>

       A statistical report published on April 1st 2015 and conducted using a survey, this study demonstrated the new and rising “Smartphone-dependent” population that rely on their Smartphones for their internet connection, thus, multiplying the importance of such a device to the user. It was also created based on several other studies, most of which looks at more than 2000 test subjects. The Pew Research Center has said to have been looking at the sociological impact of technology since the introduction of the first millennium, proving to be an experienced source.

After Research Was Conducted

After immense research over the topic at hand, and after limiting my sources to five, I learned several things about the growing population in America. I found out that 97% of 18-29 year olds use their Smartphone to prevent boredom, 47% use it to avoid the people surrounding them physically, while 57% find it a good way to get somewhere (PewCenter). Thus, using this result we can suggest that the majority of users use it as a method of escape from the real world for mere entertainment (97% and 57%) or even trying to avoid the atmosphere entirely (47%). From the Pew Research Center, I have also learned that 100% of 18-29 year olds text, but a lesser 93% voice or video call, meaning that 7% of those Smartphone 18-29 year olds analyzed don’t even use their Smartphones for anything that could resemble face-to-face communication. In addition, 73% of young users feel distracted, resembling a majority of the population realizing a problem with the effects of such devices. As well as 15% of the 18-29 population being completely dependent on their Smartphones for internet access, while a whopping 80% of the young population require it for “turn-by-turn” navigation. Overall, solely based on the Pew Research Center’s report, we can say that the young population are tending to use their Smartphones as a means of visiting a rule-free vicarious world of being somebody you’re not. Also, our Smartphones have altered into something more important to some people’s lives as it is the only way some can access the internet and to get to places without being lost. Thus, our dependency on these devices has increased our time consumption.

Looking at the Kaiser Family Foundation’s research report, I was able to compare media usage of 8-18 year olds over 3 periods of time (1999,2004,2009). Overall, the total media usage on average has increased in the last decade by 1 hour and 19 minutes (from 6:19 to 7:38). The possession of a cell phone has also seen a raise, from 39% to 66%, over the last decade. Another piece of information comprehended was how heavy users of media saw only 51% obtain good grades (A’s and B’s) while moderate users and light users obtained 65% and 66% respectively. Heavy users seem to slightly have a social advantage as 93% believe they have a lot of friends vs the 91% of both the moderate and light users. However it seems that the heavy usage of media seems to affect emotions as a less percentage of heavy users feel like they get along with their parents or feel happy, while they also seem to be more likely to be more mischievous or feel bored. As the possession of cell phones in the hands of 15-18 year olds has increased by 2004’s 56% and 2009’s 85%, and the usage of such devices has increased, one can predict an increase rate in Smartphone users as time goes by, as well as an increase in usage.

Looking at the social networking site study, one discovers that those who feel less socially accepted in society and maintained a large group of friends on social media, saw a decrease in anxious-depressive symptoms, and vice-versa, as more socially accepted young adults felt more under pressure and saw an increase in symptoms that lead to social withdrawal. One could then look at reasons for such results such as lack of social cues that provide comfort of being able to sense the opposing person’s real reaction.

From the US Consensus, we learn that 77.7% of 15-34 year olds have internet access, 80.1% of 0-17 year olds have a hand held device, 80.6% of 0-17 year olds have high speed internet, and 9.5% of 15-34 year olds only use a handheld device.

Finally, from our final study, we find that people in conversation feel less close with their partners in conversation and had a lower quality in relationships solely based on the presence of a Smartphone in the same room. In the second experiment, we also learn that, in a more meaningful conversation, rather than a casual one, the presence of a phone drastically and negatively effects the empathy, relationship quality and trust of the people in conversation. Therefore, if just the presence of a Smartphone can create such an impact, how could using such a device impact one’s conversation overall compared to those who use devices less.

So far what I have learned has supported my initial hypothesis that using Smartphones could negatively impact one’s conversational skills. However, I believe that I may need to add just a little more sociology into the topic, which is why I am considering conducting an interview with a sociology professor at the University for his professional view on the question at hand. My ideas about my topic have been firm and have not been altered due to my research, which makes me think more on whether I did enough research or if my sources are that supportive. Moreover, I believe that I gathered more statistical data, especially that on internet and smartphone usage than needed and need to focus more on the sociological aspect of using such devices. I also need to look more on Smartphones than the broad range of hand-held devices.