Humans started to prefer to be alone,
Their best friends became their mobile phone.
A buzzing, ringing mobile device,
No human face could ever suffice.
Texting, calling, internet too,
Used in all locations, even the loo!
Obsessed, addicted, attached at the ear
Losing our device creates ultimate fear.
Until one day we all become cyborgs,
Only identifiable at the morgues.
Changing our
identity, becoming a part of you,
Or are our mobile devices, humans too?
I wrote this poem to describe our relationship with mobile devices as they are taking over our lives and forming who we are. If you think about it, mobiles are becoming a part of us, attached to our hands or ears wherever we turn. Which leads me to think that mobile devices are actually human too as we have allowed them to consume us and become an important factor of our lifestyles. In support of this theory, Ingrid Richardson (2007) believes that mobile devices have become an extra body part for human beings blurring the lines of what is human and what is not. In other words, becoming cyborgs.
This is a prediction of what will happen to the human race in the future. Quite scary isn't it? To think that we might look like this in the future due to our over-usage of mobile devices. According to Amber Case (2010), we are all already cyborgs!!
My research has led me to an interesting link regarding humans who have integrated technology into themselves to better their lives. Check it out if you get a chance! 7 Real Life Human Cyborgs
Are you dependent on your phone?
Are you afraid to lose your phone?
Do you feel lost without it?
If you said yes to these questions you may be suffering from nomophobia. Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact (SecurEnvoy, 2008). Do not worry, as you fall into the category for the majority of humans who feel exactly the same! Research has shown that 9 out of 10 people under thirty feel anxious when they are without their phones (PTI, 2013).
Dr Mario Lehenbauer-Baum (2013) states that
“If checking and rechecking your phone comes as naturally to
you as breathing, or if you feel anxious or restless any time your phone is not
on or near you, you may have a technology addiction”.
For me personally, I could live without my mobile phone. We have done it in the past and we could do it again. However society has evolved into technologically advanced beings who thrive on having information at their fingertips in the space of a second. Check out this Infographic regarding mobile phone usage. This gives you an idea of just how obsessed we all are with our mobile devices.
Some experts would say that we are addicted and reliant on our mobile phones to the point where we have become unacceptably and socially rude and have begun phubbing. Phubbing is the act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your mobile phone instead of paying attention. I have most certainly been a victim of this but I do admit I am also a guilty party for this act and have phubbed others I have been with. Think about it have you phubbed or been phubbed?
Signing out for now. See you next week! KM
References
Case, A 2010, Amber Case: We Are All Cyborgs Now,
TED.com, January 2010, viewed 1st December
2013, <http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now.html>
Richardson, I 2007, 'Pocket
technospaces: the bodily incorporation of mobile media', in Goggin, G 2008,
Mobile phone culture, Routledge, London, pp.66–75.
Digital activism also appeals to general society as many people feel they do not have the time to attend campaigns or participate in activities related to certain issues. With digital activism they can sign a petition online and can share pages with their friends and family, making more people aware. They are able to do this on their own time. It allows people to take social and political action in front of their computers.
