Technology Is Manifesting Through Increased Communication and Connectivity While Leading Society to Develop A Growing Dependence

After seeing advertisements for the newest IPhone 6s or the Galaxy S6 edge+, you may have upgraded, or are looking to upgrade, your mobile device.

90% of American Adults in a 2014 Pew study owned a mobile phone and 58% of them owned a smartphone.  Furthermore, nearly 5 hours of a person's day are spent on a smartphone for the average American.  This puts the US ahead of 11 other countries, based on research by Informate Mobile Intelligence.

Source: Pew Research Center

Nine interviews of undergraduate students revealed four common characteristics of the phenomenon
called nomophobia, or otherwise known as no-mobile-phone-phobia.  It is defined as "the fear of being out of mobile phone contact," in the study "Exploring the dimensions of nomophobia: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire."  These four characteristics of nomophobia include:

• Loss of Connectivity
• Lack of Communication
• Lack of Access to Information
• Inconvenience

The undergraduate students claimed to feel anxious or even afraid of the consequences that may result from being without one's mobile device.  Some of the habits that they developed include always having a charger, sleeping with one's phone, or constantly checking for notifications.

Nomophobia Affects 40% of the Population With Smartphones Being the Primary Device For People Around the World

Olya Jerschkowsky, Senior Project Manager of Academic Technologies at the University of Maryland, University College (UMUC), discusses why she feels people are becoming increasingly dependent on technology to the point of an addiction.

The time people spend on a smartphone is typically dedicated to various different tasks and one includes communicating with others through texting or social networking, according to the Washington Times.  Technology increases one's ability to virtually communicate and connect with other people to the extent that one may expect others to be constantly available in an online setting.

Some fear that as technology becomes increasingly normalized, it will eventually inhibit one's ability to effectively function without it.  Others fear for the future of young people who grow up with technology and who may not learn the importance of interpersonal interactions.

One manifestation of a technology dependence includes anxiety towards face-to-face interactions that can be easily but temporarily resolved through virtual communication, despite the assumption that technology typically enables people to become more connected in their relationships.

Others argue that technology engages bonding and connectivity in new ways that create friendships and relationships.  Further, when that technology is removed, people do not suffer from the absence of technology but rather the lack of connectivity to those previously established relationships.

Jerschkowsky describes her opinion about the positive and negative development of technology over generations and why people should be accepting of this change.

Jerschkowsky argues that technology's prevalence in society will continue to develop due to the plentiful benefits that it offers to a great number of people.  While there nonetheless exist problems that may require attention, the connectivity that a smartphone, for example, offers is crucial to maintaining communication at the pace that is expected in contemporary society.

Apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp focus on their increasing ability to establish connectivity between users.  Facebook, according to Imperial College London, is focusing on how to connect people who may lack the same technological infrastructure that is currently available in many countries.

The connectivity that a smartphone or other technological device makes available to people may prove to be an integral part in a person's nomophobia.  By being present, available, and connected to others, communication is facilitated and information can be conveniently transferred from one person to another.  This access also drives the expectations that people have for one another to be consistently and readily available to communicate when others feel that information or a correspondence is necessary.

Rude Cell Phone Habits May Be Lead to Conflict, Depression, and Lower Satisfaction In A Relationship

Source: Pew Research Center

89% of Americans reported in The Guardian that their divided attention to a phone consequently interrupted their most recent social interaction.  Among that percentage, the majority also claimed that their conversation deteriorated as a result of the interruption.

Even when a person cannot avoid the urge to utilize their phone during a social interaction with others, 82% of participants in a Pew study agree that it nonetheless is damaging to the conversation.  Thirty-three percent on the other hand believe that mobile devices add to conversation.

The phenomenon known as 'Partner Phubbing', is defined when a person lacks adequate cell phone manners.  The situation typically manifests during a correspondence with a relationship partner but may also be generalized to friends or family members.  Furthermore, nearly half of survey respondents claimed that they have been phubbed by their relationship partner while about 23% said there were issues in the relationship as a result, according to Today.

Harold Tran, Managing Partner at Vantage Point Consulting, discusses how one's increased use of technology could positively and negatively affect one's daily interactions with others.

Technology offers the benefit of connectivity between people at nearly instantaneous speeds.  However, once people prioritize their digital life over their physical life, there may arise consequences in relationships.

Stephanie Cork, Teaching Assistant in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park, discusses how technology is "able to connect us to people far away, but also disconnects us from people close to us."  The time one spends being virtually available to others may take away from one's ability to be physically available to those in the present.

By going to social media, people oftentimes look for emotional or social support from a virtual community rather than from one's relationship partner in the present, according to Today.  As Tran mentioned, quality time with a friend or partner may seem to be less meaningful as the number of likes the person receives seems to become more important.  A psychiatrist on Today communicated the idea that many relationship partners do not speak up when their partner's phone distraction becomes an issue.

Partner phubbing is an example of one outcome that a person may experience as a result of their nomophobia or varying level of dependency to a smartphone.  By fearing the loss of communication with relationships in the outside world, a person may compromise the quality of a present relationship in order to be connected with a virtual network.

Individuals With Technology Dependencies Require Varying Amounts of Intervention, If Any, to Accommodate Their Specific Needs

Given the negative consequences that do exist as a result of technology development, Chris Tatem, Assistant Vice President of Solutions Design and Development at UMUC, argues that society could be taking more steps to address problems with technology dependencies and addictions.

Some problems in society, like texting while driving, may require more intervention due to the inherent danger that it poses.  While prevention may be an effective strategy, reporters on Today argue that one's attachment to mobile technology is not immediately a problem and may not require intervention until it begins to affect one's mental or psychological health.  Others on The Daily Beast specify that technology addictions are similar to those of drugs or gambling in regard to the effects they all have on the human brain.

However, the Washington Post reports that only 10-12% of people will develop a "real" clinical addiction to legal or illegal substances, which has not fluctuated since the Internet became mainstream.  Reporters stress the importance of distinguishing between a fear and a medical condition that requires treatment.

Cork describes how "...we could develop more reliance on these devices, but addiction maybe is a bridge too far."  And Tatem agrees by saying "...everyone will become more and more dependent on technology, but not everyone will develop an addiction."  Cork continues to say how the prevalence, rapid development, and impact of technology are highly individualized and may have more of an impact, either positive, negative, or both, on some people than on others.  Whether a person develops nomophobia, a dependence, or an addiction to their mobile device is based on the factors and elements of an individual's situation.  More specifically, Cork says:

"Rehabilitation for addiction is very particular, right, because addiction is a biochemical process.  So, different from [a] substance abuse addiction, I suppose [a] technological addiction would have to be differently engaged [because] you have to use technology in the contemporary moment"

Cork stresses how difficult it would be to completely remove oneself from a digitalized community, especially when the person relies on technology for 'normal' functioning in their daily lives.  From communication to cybernetics, technology is becoming normalized in society and leads people to become increasingly dependent on the devices that make their daily activities possible.

One program designed by reSTART is focused on helping people overcome their technology dependencies or addictions by limiting Internet usage and initiating interests in other activities.

Some of the individuals who partake in programs at reSTART struggle with their need to dedicate copious numbers of hours to some form of technology.  They consequently create habits of abandoning others to partake in the experience of engaging in a virtual world, according to the Huffington Post.

While The Huffington Post reports that neither an Internet nor a technology addiction are official diagnoses, the reSTART program is designed in phases that begin with no access to technology.  The clients are slowly reintroduced to technology after their completion of each phase.  They also participate in counseling sessions to discuss what their lives will look like after the program concludes and specifically how the individuals can redirect their focus towards work, school, and other activities while incorporating healthy practices of technology into their lives.  They seek to focus on how technology can be incorporated and utilized without conflicting other aspects of the individual's life.