My Essay (Mobile phones and their effects on society)

Abstract

Mobile phones recently have been in much greater demand, with ownership increasing on a daily basis in all parts of the world, including developing countries. There is a question however whether this increase in mobile phone ownership is having an impact on society, and whether it is negative, or positive. In this essay, several varying sources are studied and then reflected upon, to investigate this issue. A number of major factors are covered, including social, criminal, international and journalistic. The results find that mobile phones are having both a positive and negative impact. Whilst causing problems such as crime, and less social interaction, they are also bringing people closer together, and providing a lifeline to many.

Introduction

Mobile phones are an important part of daily life for millions of people across the globe. Whether they own one to simply be able to call home, or to send a text message to a friend, the mobile phone is changing how they go about their daily life. The question is how much of their life is affected by having a mobile phone, and whether the impact is positive, or negative.

Literature Review

The mobile telephone has been with us since the 1980’s, and since the late nineties it has steadily gained in popularity, with record numbers of people old and young owning phones some of which have features never before deemed essential to daily life (Davie, 2003). An intensive research project was carried out by Rich Ling in 2004 that resulted in a number of conclusions on how phones can change social situations, how they make us feel secure and also how people almost feel forced to buy expensive mobile phones in order to fit in with social situations (Ling, 2004).

Weerakkody and Niranjala (2008) wrote a journal article about mobile phone usage and ownership in Australia. This article noted that Australia had one of the highest mobile phone ownership rates in the world, and because of this, younger and younger children owned phones. The journal article offered a contrast between the positive social aspects of owning a phone (fitting in, sense of safety) against the negative aspects of owning a phone at a young age (health risks, extensive costs). It concluded that children needed phones as much as their “parents needed ballpoint pens” and that the increase of phone ownership was simply social evolution (Weerakkody and Niranjala, 2008, 459).

In contrast to both of these above sources is an online article from website Ezine (Epand, 2004). This article detailed how the phone has impacted economically emerging societies such as those in Africa, and the how wireless technology could help these countries evolve much more rapidly. It also discussed how countries are solving problems of installing additional antennas, which can be an eyesore, by camouflaging them as objects such as trees (Epand, 2004).

Methodology

A range of different types of sources will be used for the research on mobile phones and their effects on society.  In the case of this topic, it would be possible to use a survey sent out to a large range of people, and ask questions such as: “besides calls and text messaging, what other features do you use?” etc.  However, instead of using a questionnaire as research, existing data obtained from a variety of written and published sources will be used.  This will include mediums such as books, eBooks, journals and newspaper articles. These sources (which were also briefly discussed in the literature review) will inform the argument on whether mobile phones are impacting society in a good way, or whether they are impacting society in a negative manner.

To find suitable data online, or in ebooks or journals using an online source, relevant key words relating to the topic will be searched. For example, the keywords “Mobile Phone Crime Statistics” will help find suitable sources on this topic.
The data that is collected from the written sources found using the key words will be mainly focussing on ownership, and how this ownership has impacted society.  This will include taking positive articles about how the increased ownership and increased connectivity is improving the quality of life, alongside articles which focus on the negatives of increased ownership, such as decreased verbal skills, and security problems (e.g. terrorism and personal theft).

By using articles from both sides and from looking at the data used by the authors of the sources (such as surveys and interviews) , it will be possible to draw a conclusion on whether mobile phones are making a positive or negative impact on society. When collecting data from these sources, the relevant sections and diagrams will be recorded, and these will then be referred to when making an analysis. 

Mobile phones and their effects on society

In 1946, an experimental project was setup in two remote communities in Colorado. This experiment involved testing out a radio based telephony system between two small communities. This revolutionary experiment allowed the people of these communities to talk to each other for the first time and make calls for help in emergencies, weather forecasts and temporary labour. (Ling, 2004)

Over 60 years later, mobile phones are still used for the same basic principles. However, the uses for them have increased, and mobile phones are more widespread than ever before, and people use them even more frequently – particularly in the United States. (Pew Internet, 2008)

Possibly, the generation which the mobile phone has affected the most, is the teenage generation.  The survey by Pew Internet (2008) showed that every year, more teenagers in the United States were gaining ownership of mobile phones, and that there was only a small difference in numbers of teenagers and adults using mobile phones.

Another country that has been impacted heavily, particularly with regards to teenagers and children owning phones is Australia. Australia has an ownership rate of 92%, reached within less than 20 years of mainstream adoption. Over half these owners (roughly 50%) are children and teenagers; with some 80,000 five to nine year olds owning a mobile phone (Weerakkody and Niranjala, 2008).


Alongside these figures comes a range of view-points. The positives of a young child and teenager owning a mobile phone are useful should an emergency situation arise, for example, the young owner gets lost on a journey home.  However, teenagers also regard their ownership as a social and fashion statement. In an interview with a group of teenagers, author Rich Ling asked the question “Why do you think that young people are so interested in mobile telephones?” The responses received from the teenagers questioned mention it as a “fashion thing” and a way of “elevating their social status”. This can be partly attributed to the fact that teenagers are of the age where they are trying to develop their identity, and mobile phone ownership would be a way of them aligning themselves with their peers. (Ling, 2004)

The mobile phone has fast become part of everyday life for a teenager, and they can manage their entire social life from one device. An example is the use of mobile social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. The uptake of social networking, in particular Facebook (with users increasing by 98%) has led to them spending more money developing their mobile platform (Yoskowitz, 2008)

However, with the increased access to mobile phones, safety and security have been compromised. For example, there is a strong link to the dangers caused by using a mobile phone whilst driving. In 2002, RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) undertook a study of drivers using mobile phones investigating both the use of hands-free kits and those holding a phone. From this study, it was found that some drivers lost concentration thus impairing their ability to drive, whilst other drivers lost the ability to maintain a constant speed, lane ownership and awareness of road signs (RoSPA, 2002).

Additionally, mobile phones are highly prone to theft. A Home Office report on crime in the UK, showed that in almost half of all robberies reported a mobile phone had been stolen, and that in a third of all robberies a mobile phone was the only thing stolen. (Home Office, 2008)

Mobile phones can also be used for more sinister reasons and terrorism is one of these. The ability to not have a fixed line and to be able to swap sim cards on the go makes the terrorist(s) much harder to trace (Metropolitan Police, No Date).  Mobile phones can also be used to detonate explosives, in attacks such as the bombs in Bali. (Dolinar, 2004)

Additionally, there are costs associated with mobile phone ownership. Teens are often faced with enormous bills, which they, and their parents have no easy way of resolving and many are uneducated in how to talk to or contact the right people. Mobile service operators are being asked now to change their process of selling to make their terms of payment less transparent (Weerakkody and Niranjala, 2008).

However, in contrast to the safety concerns and the costs, smart phones in particular have changed how users run their daily life, and how companies run their businesses. Smart phones are phones with additional functionality, such as advanced email support and the ability to edit work documents on the go. A survey among companies in the Asia-Pacific region showed that 62% of employees feel more productive using a smart phone, and a further 24% felt that their productivity was slightly better. It is also stated that mobile technologies are transforming the interaction and attitudes towards their work and their employers. (LiveMint, 2009).

The mobile phone market is also continuously trying to add innovation to its products. Manufactures such as Sony Ericsson continuously place new technology such as high resolution cameras into their mobile phones in an attempt to encourage people to take more photos of their daily life and events. Features like cameras can come in useful, as it allows people to report on breaking news (Long, 2005; Sambrook, 2005).

The ability to video call people was another “revolutionary” feature introduced to mobile phones in the early 2000’s. This idea was the people would be able to see close friends and family from anywhere in the world. However it has yet to have very much impact on how people make phone calls possibly due to increased costs and networks being unable to cope with this technology, and thus global revenues from video calling in 2007 was under £1billion a year (Tudor, 2007).

The table below sums up my findings above:

Positive Aspects	Negative Aspects
Easy of communication	Terrorism
Video communication	Distraction to drivers
Citizen journalism	Increasing costs
Mobile social networking	Increased levels of property theft

 

Conclusion

As the sources researched above have shown, mobile phones have a huge impact on day to day life. Whether it is teenagers using mobile phones to feel as if they are conforming to social standards or to whether it is a business deploying smart mobiles across the company to increase levels of productivity. Mobile phones additionally allow us to change the way we communicate with people, by taking photos of our daily lives and sending them to each other, to being able to see the person that we are calling from across the continent.

However, the development of mobile phone technology does not come without negatives. The increased rate of theft and the new remote ways that sinister actives can be carried out are some of these. Also, the increased debt caused by excessive use of mobile phones by people not familiar with the costs has made a negative impact on society.

It is in conclusion with the above findings that the mobile phone has changed the way society operates today, and it is mainly for the positive, but however, like with most changes, it has its negatives.

References

Ling, Rich. 2004. The Mobile Connection. 1st ed. San Francisco, CA : Morgan Kaufmann.
Weerakkody J, Niranjala D. , D.N.W, 2008. Mobile phones and children: an Australian perspective. Issues in Informing Science & Information Technology Annual 2008, (Volume 5), p459

PC Magazine Article. 2003. More Kids Using Cell Phones, Study Finds [Online] (Updated 19 Aug 2009)
Available at: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351812,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121 [Accessed 9 November 2009].

Andre Yoskowitz, 2008. Facebook mobile users increase by 300 Percent . Afterdawn, [internet] 12 November. Available at http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/15977.cfm
[Accessed 9 November 2009]

RoSPA, 2007. The Risk of Using a Mobile Phone While Driving, London: Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents

UK Home Office, 2008. Crime in England and Wales 2007/08. [Online]
Available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0708.pdf
[Accessed 9 November 2009].

GlobalSecurity.org. 2004. Cell Phones jury-rigged to detonate bombs [Online] (Updated 15 March 2004)
Available at: http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2004/040315-cellphones-bombs.htm [Accessed 9 November 2009].

LiveMint.com. Smartphones, laptops help employees boost productivity: survey. LiveMint and tge Wall Street Journal, [internet] 29 June 2009. Available at: http://www.livemint.com/2009/06/29184427/Smartphones-laptops-help-empl.html
[Accessed 9 November 2009].

Long, G., 2005. The The Evolution of the Camera Phone. SearchWarp, [Online],
Available at: http://searchwarp.com/swa7798.htm
[Accessed 9 November 2009].

Richard Sambrook. Citizen Journalism and the BBC. Nieman Reports, [internet] Winter 2005. Available at: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reportsitem.aspx?id=100542
[Accessed 9 November 2009].

Ben Tudor. Why video-calling hasn't made the telecoms companies rich. The Guardian, [internet] 9 August 2007. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/aug/09/guardianweeklytechnologysection.it1
[Accessed 9 November 2009].

Ronald Davie, Ph.D. 2003, Mobile phone ownership and usage among pre-adolescents. ScienceDirect, [Online]. 21 (4). Abstract from ScienceDirect database. Available at: linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0736585304000164. [Accessed 3  November 2009]


Victor Epand, 2008. Social Impacts The Telephone And The Cell Phone Has Had On Society. [Online Article] Place : Ezine. Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Social-Impacts-The-Telephone-And-The-Cell-Phone-Has-Had-On-Society&id=411761, Home – Communications – Mobile Cell Phone
[Accessed 3  November 2009]

Literature Review

For the essay on Mobile phones and their Impact on society I studied a varied amount of sources some of which are based on studies and some of which are based on opinions. The usefulness of these sources in my study will be discussed in this review.
The most important source for me is “The Mobile Connection – The cell phones impact on society”, by Rich ling.
The book studies firstly how mobile phone shave been adopted into society. For example, it is described how two different types of people are compared to each other. One, feels the need to have an expensive phone as his social circle have them, and feels the need for one to have some weight so that he can sense and feel that he has one at all times.
The other person however, has no regard for the costs of the phone besides how much the bill is. This person only requires a phone for contact, not to feel “socially accepted”. It is then followed on with a comparison to possessions, for example cars. (Rich ling (2004, p.33)
Further on, the book describes how mobile phones impact security. For example, it compares the need of being connected in situations of panic, such as critical accidents and injury (Rich Ling (2004, p.36) to how it can enable terrorist activities. Examples included mention terrorist Attacks in Bali (Indonesia) and ones in Jakarta (Indonesia) (Rich Ling (2004, p.37)
The book continues on with discussing how mobile phones can help co-ordinate social events (Rich Ling (2004, p.61). It makes conclusions on how mobile phones allow for constant changes to events to be updated but also how it can remove the personal feel from arrangements with methods such as sms (short messaging service) being used. (Rich Ling(2004, p.81)
The book spends a vast amount of time discussing how teens are affected by mobile phones. It includes a diagram which shows the usage of mobile by teens by age in Norway, 2001. (Rich Ling, 2004, p87). It also discusses how younger and younger children are using mobile phones, mimicking possibly those older around them. (Rich Ling, 2004, p97).
The final part of the book which is of relevance is chapter 6, which discusses the intrusive nature of mobile telephony.
It discusses how a person can switch social situations in an instant, interrupting a current social situation changing the person who was previously being conversed with social situation. (Rich ling (2004, p137)
it also discusses how mobile phone conversations often induce others involuntarily into eavesdropping. It discusses how it ahs the potential to reveal inner secrets to others, and cause embarrassment to the users of the mobile device. (Rich Ling (2004, p143).
Ling, Rich. 2004. The Mobile Connection. 1st ed. Morgan Kaufmann.




A news article describes to readers how to deal with “The Cell Phone culture”
This source discusses how the writer feels they are the new cigarette. It also describes how it feels like the transport people to a distant world when they are using them “like a child reading a Harry Potter Book”.
The writers view is rather cynical, and is highly opinionated.
Bob Schieffer, 2005. Focus: ‘Coping With The Cell Phone Culture. CBS news, [internet] 24July. Available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/25/opinion/schieffer/main711391.shtml
[Accessed 20 October 2009]
To conclude, there is a vast array of information regarding how mobile phones (cell phones) are impacting culture and society. Much of this information is opinionated and comes in the forms of short editorial articles online, posts in web forums or in blogs. However, the most useful research is in the book “The Mobile Connection”. It contains a well spaced out, organised and data rich study on the impact. It has a few downfalls in that it focuses heavily on the youth.
The information gathered here and available further online and in journals will be helpful in concluding the question of The Mobile Phones impact on Society.

VARK Questionaire

In this weeks lecture we learned about different learning styles and took a questionable named "VARK" (Visual Aural Read/Write Kinesthetic).
One of the most common ways of learning is called "surface learning".
This, is the process of literally just reading lists and memorizing data. This fills the mind with data, however it is easily forgotten later, and also a lot of information that is not needed is learned. This is a great method for learning in some situations.
What has been discovered is that we learn in a Spiral Pattern.
Theres three mains parts to this - Concrete experience (learning from around you and experiences), Active Experimentation and Abstract Experimentation.
The main process for learning is: Learn -> Apply It -> Try Again.

The VARK questionnaire is a tested way of finding out what way you learn best. This is done by taking a short simple multiple choice questionnaire. At the end, you are given a result and based on what type of learner you are.
My result was that I learn best through reading. However, personally, I believe this to be wrong. I personally feel that I learn best as a visual learner, as I like to to break down revision and learning into diagrams and pictures. I am aware that I am capable of learning using reading, but I would never consider it as my primary method for learning, as I like to skim read versus read a full piece of text.
My least favourite style of learing according to VARK is Aural, this, I am in agreement with, as I do find simply listening a hard way of learning - as without note taking, it is very hard to stay focused.

My visit to the library

For my research paper, I am required to have visited the university library.
This week I chose to visit the library to look for books on my chosen topic "mobile phones and their effect on society".
I started my using the libraries search system, which allows me to browse hundreds of journals, E-books, news articles and book titles that the library has in stock.
Firstly I found a journal, which was a book review of a book titled "the mobile connection: the cellphones in impact on society by Rich Ling"
From the review, I learn that:
-It is written by American working for a mobile company
-It focuses on mobile phones use in everyday life especially amongst teenagers
-It's based on a variety of studies
-Over 30,000 interviews in 10 European countries and Israel were used in the writing of
-It is an open-minded pragmatic review
-Its focus includes how phones provide a lifeline, how security is lost and how it lowers the need for a time-based society
-It also includes a section on text in and how it's changed the language we speak
-The book has three major downfalls all being related to the fact that the book is limited to covering mainly teenagers

After this I noticed that is a book that was reviewed is offered by the library. I was able to pull up the information about where it is located and I then went to see if it was in stock. However the book was not available so I reserved the book.
Later on however I obtained a digital version of this book off the Internet which means I do not need to wait for it to become available.

Learning Line

Through the last 20 years I have had many chances to learn new skills, with many options to learn many more.
The first non institutionalized skills that I picked up were from work experience, which led into paid retail work. I had the chance again at college to gain work experience in the IT field, and although this did not lead anywhere I did gain industry experience.

From university, I have learnt many new skills, many from joining the American Football team. Being part of a team has taught me many things, and I have recently had the chance to expand my skills by being appointed assistant coach with the team.