Can You Hear Me Now?

When walking down the street, you notice a woman pacing in circles while jabbing her phone in the air in a frustrated manner trying to get a signal. Then you sit down in at your favorite coffee shop, and the man at the adjacent table is yelling, “Can you hear me now?!” At this point you wonder: why does a dropped call or lack of phone service disorient us so much? Well the simple answer is: we are constantly connected and are dependent on our phones to survive.

I am one of those people who gets easily frustrated when my phone isn’t working correctly and I feel the pressing need to contact someone. Maybe we feel like a more important person when we get a lot of phone calls; we feel as if we are needed. Don’t you notice how famous and important people don’t get excited at the prospect of a phone call from someone, especially a fan? I definitely don’t receive very many calls or text messages in a day, and when my phone begins to vibrate, I am on top of it. When someone wants to talk to you or might have a question that you can answer, it feels nice. This creates a dependence on phones, and when they don’t work for us, we feel distraught.

This feeling of loss when technology doesn’t work is common in other areas of our lives too. If the Internet doesn’t work for example, I become very uncomfortable without the ability to check my e-mails. The same may go for Facebook, MySpace, or any other online communication device. This discomfort and feeling of loss indicates a dependence on constant connectivity to technology. So if we are wondering whether constant connectivity is a bane or boon, it might help to decide whether being disconnected is a bane or boon. At this stage in society, wouldn’t disconnection to technology disrupt our lives and livelihoods far more than the banes of constant connectivity?

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Online Libraries- the New Theater

Ever since I began living by myself at college, with no parents to nag me, I have been watching some of my favorite TV shows and movie clips before going to sleep. This habit started as a rebellious- “I am mature and independent now” statement, but it developed into a daily hobby because of the easy access to this media online.
Netflix, Hulu and iTunes are the largest “online theaters”, enabling everyone access to all kinds of movies and shows for a trivial fee. Not only is the process effortless, the products are incredibly satisfactory. People can watch any movie, at any time, in any place, as long as they are connected to the server. Consequently, there is a major decrease in people’s interest in network television and cable. More specifically, Comcast- the biggest cable company in the U.S., has been experiencing a major increase in the number of cable-service-cancelations.
Interestingly enough, Comcast has been taking a friendly, competitive approach to this issue by advancing its own online applications and services. The company came up with a library of movies called Xfinitytv, offering all the popular TV and movie channels to signed members. In addition, Comcast developed couple of small advanced gadgets for its users such as a remote control to the TV through a laptop keyboard and a remote DVR programming Web browser.
The pitch which is most likely to restore the peace within the company is the incorporation of the iPad or the Android tablet into its future technology. Comcast is currently working on its Xfinitytv iPad app which will allow users to transform their iPads into an on-demand, light, comfortable-to-use, touch-screen remote. Nevertheless, Comcast hints about developing its revolutionary technology of a live TV accessible to watch on the compatible iPad screen.
While all these innovations will ultimately improve people’s media experience and will provide overall satisfaction, I wonder if this rivalry between monopoly companies to become exponentially more technologically advanced will ever cease. Whatever happens, I strongly believe we cannot ignore the social evolution we are all experiencing, at this very moment. We do require new ideas and tools to accommodate those social changes. Comcast’s approach shows us: “We need to work with the changing times instead of fighting them.”

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

"Unlike a mirror, which reminds us of who we really are and may have a negative effect on self-esteem if that image does match with our ideal, Facebook can show a positive version of ourselves,” said associate professor Jeffrey Hancock. “We’re not saying that it’s a deceptive version of self, but it’s a positive one” (CNN Tech).

There has been a growing concern that our generation’s dependence on Facebook and other similar social media networks to determine our self-worth has reached unacceptable levels. How can we define ourselves as unique, interesting, artistic, clever, cool, etc. while differentiating ourselves from everyone else who might hope to get the same image across?

Facebook is formatted such that you can learn almost everything and anything you want about your connections. Naturally, the idea of such openness is intimidating to many, and privacy groups, like the Electronic Privacy Information Center, have come together and garnered some influence within the government (All Things Digital). What these groups might want to consider, however, is that companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are ultimately around to maximize their net income despite the efforts these organizations go through to convince you otherwise.

Ultimately, Facebook is not an inherent right but a privilege.

I admit that all of this sounds ominous, but we must not forget that there’s a bright side to it all. With a few exceptions, you, and no one else, have almost complete control, as a Facebook user, to control the content of your profile. It is up to you to determine which celebrity/athlete/artist pages to like, whether or not you want to share your education and employment specifics, whether or not you will keep other peoples’ posts on your wall and comments on your pictures, and even whether or not others will be able to access your pictures from your page. Finally, it is up to you to decide what picture will summarize your online presence. I’m referring, of course, to your profile picture, often the first thing you notice when you click through to your friends’ pages.

I took the above quote from Jeffrey Hancock from an article on CNN Tech. The story covers Hancock’s report regarding the correlation between Facebook and self-esteem in a study of 63 students (click here to be linked to the report itself). It turns out that subjects who spent time on Facebook returned more positive feedback about themselves than those who were either staring at a mirror or a blank computer screen during the allotted time (CNN Tech).

“For many people, there’s an automatic assumption that the internet is bad,” Hancock said. “This is one of the first studies to show that there’s a psychological benefit of Facebook” (CNN Tech).

Does the research speak for itself?

Either way, perhaps some of us should consider lightening up.

Treating Your Technology Addiction

As more and more people are realizing how addicted they are to technology, some are making an effort to completely turning off their use of technology in their life. Many people have a difficult time finding the right balance in using technology. For instance, James Cornell, 18, felt anxiety after being anyway from his cell phone for only one day. John Stark, 46, stopped sending and receiving text messages to his friends in hopes that his friends would call him if they needed him, but instead his friends text messaged John’s wife, asking her to relay information to him.

Although these people simply desired a fast fix to their addiction to technology to feel in control of their use of technology, experts think that those who want to treat their technology addiction should view the addiction like a diet instead of a withdrawal from drugs. Experts believe that people need to learn how to distinguish between necessary and compulsive consumption.

The first step in any addiction, however, is realizing you have a problem. I like to deny how many hours I spend on my phone and computer everyday because I feel embarrassed. Facebook, especially, eats up all my free time. I know that shutting down my Facebook account will not fix the problem because I will just become obsessed with something else. I need to treat my problem now using baby steps. I must master self control and I hope those of you with the same addiction to technology feel inspired now to do the same.

New Distractions on the Road

Since it is illegal to talk on the cell phone without a headset, car companies are now developing features that appeal to those who need to feel constantly connected. Ford cars now have an “in car-connectivity” feature called Ford Sync, which allows the driver to sync up to apps, and play songs on your iPod. It can even read Twitter feeds and your text messages. Ford Sync is voiced activated, which means you can tell Ford Sync to respond to your text messages from a list of 10 prewritten responses. You can even order Ford Sync to find a restaurant that you are craving.

These features sound ideal to the average person, but surely these features will distract the driver. Yes, the driver is prevented from looking down at his or her phone to reply to a text message, but being this connected to technology must be a distraction to the driver. This distraction makes the driver unable to fully concentrate on the road because they are thinking about which text message response they should choose to send or listening to Twitter feeds. I think that these features are putting drivers in danger of getting into accidents.

Driven to Distraction

I work for an organization called Friday Night Live in Sacramento County. Friday Night Live (FNL) focuses on preventing drinking and distracted driving and promotes a positive place for middle school and high school students to make healthy decisions. One thing that I have learned while working for FNL is some of the startling statistics related to the dangers of distracted driving. Most aspects of distracted driving are related to abuse of technology such as fiddling with GPS devices, changing songs on an Ipod, texting, and talking on the phone while driving a vehicle. Despite recent legislation in the state of California making texting and talking on the phone illegal, many Californians take the risks and do it anyway. Focusing on these technologies takes a driver’s focus away from the road and makes them more likely to get into a crash. Most people say that it is obvious that texting while driving is dangerous and distracts drivers from the road, and yet most also admit to having done it. The dangers of distracted driving are so astonishing, that it appalls me to read news articles that companies are creating new technologies for drivers on the road.

The New York Times article “Despite Risks, Internet Creeps Onto Car Dashboards” published in January 2010 discusses companies like Intel and Google sharing their ambitions at the Consumer Electronics Show to shift their attention “from the desktop to the dashboard.” As if cell phone communications were not enough, now consumers will have the option to scour the internet while they drive. Despite efforts of safety advocates and lawmakers, these companies are once again putting profit over safety. The companies have stated that when the “Audi System” turns on, a warning message will read, “Please only use the online services when traffic conditions allow you to do so safely.” But honestly, do they really expect this to deter consumers from using their products when the conditions are not safe? In my opinion, we should not trust consumers with this option when it could jeopardize the lives of others on the road. Checking the weather or sending an e-mail should not be prioritized above the safety and well being of drivers and passengers on the road.

Related material to this post can be found here.

Is the Use of Technology Compromising with People's Safety?

“Stop, look, and listen,” are the three safety words I grew up reciting mentally to myself before crossing the street. Today, with technology making its way into our daily lives, the word “listen” is slowly being forgotten as more and more people are using iPods to listen to music while crossing the street. As people are tuning out external sounds from cars, more people are getting involved in car accidents. According to the New York Times article, States’ Lawmakers Turn Attention to the Dangers of Distracted Pedestrians three people have been killed since September as a result of listening to music while crossing the street in New York.

A bill is pending in the New York legislature that wishes to ban the use of distracting electronic devices like iPods and cellular phones while crossing the street. There should not have to be a bill placed in action for people to learn how to be responsible and remember those three words we all learned when we were in kindergarten. “Stop, look, and listen” are three actions that should be common sense to people while crossing the street. If technology is going to distract a runner from “stopping, looking, and listening” before crossing the street, then the runner should be able to make that decision whether or not to use their electronic device. Technology should not be held responsible people's lack of common sense.

If it's not on Facebook, it's not official!

“Mom, I’ve been meaning to tell you this…but um, he asked me out…we are official now”
“Wow! That’s great!...but how come I haven’t seen it on Facebook yet?”

I’m sure this scenario is either familiar or sounds true enough to be real to most of us. Our generation seems to be not only physically or mentally dependent on online social networks, but also socially dependent. The most influential social network these days is Facebook, which has over 500 million active users worldwide. Facebook limits its users to one of six different “relationship statuses”, and also gives the option not to post a status at all. According to a Time Magazine article regarding Facebook relationships, 60% of Facebook users choose to post their relationship status. Interestingly enough, most of them are either “single” or “married”. It seems as if Facebook puts social pressure on its users to share as much as possible through the network with their friends or with the general public. Consequently, users post their pictures, locations, and common friends, and in addition-their personal relations with their “partners”.

By giving their users the decision whether to announce their new or current relationships or not, Facebook creates this social expectation, which most people want to meet. No one wants to date someone who refuses to be in a relationship on Facebook, while a person who is open to suggestions would want to keep his or her options open by making sure the word “single” is loud and clear on his/her page. Furthermore, Facebook makes it easier to follow your friends’ or acquaintances’ relationships, while also giving some insights for the gossipers in society. After all, who doesn’t enjoy seeing ten “Likes” or multiple congratulating, and sometimes dramatic comments about his or her own changed relationship status?

Other than students following their friends’ teenage on /off relationship statuses, adults also utilize Facebook as a reachable medium to publicize their current love life situation. I mean, it is much easier rejecting a romantic date by “friend requesting” your fellow worker, letting him see your page, rather than saying “Sorry, I’m engaged” face to face, right? In the same Time article, an engaged couple shared an interesting story about announcing their engagement to the world via a simple Facebook status change. After receiving an angry phone call, they realized they forgot to tell the news to their own parents who ended up finding out through the network. Evidently, society believes Facebook provides the best and fastest way to announce, share, track and comment about personal relationship statuses of the people around us. Without this wide updating network, people would feel “out of the loop” and would be less entertained by judging others’ decisions or following others’ achievements. Once again, we fall into the online trap- getting addicted to being constantly connected.


So bottom line, to share or not share?

No More Make-Believe: the Death of Healthy Childhoods

When I was a kid, all of my spare time was spent reading or playing. Winters were spent curled up in front of the fire reading every book I could get my hands on and summers were spent running around outside, practically naked, for every moment of daylight. Stories in my head came alive in make-believe games; everything I did came from my imagination and was brought to life with my bare hands and with whatever I could turn into toys or props to enact my stories. My friends and I made hundreds of miniature fairy villages out of stones, twigs, and leaves, dressed ourselves up as pirates, princes and princesses, and romped through the mud until we became brown mud-monsters that were not allowed anywhere near the white furniture. This was my entire childhood; there was no Internet, no television, and no constant input of media. I was always happy, energetic, and, albeit constantly muddy, healthy.

Now, I look at my ten-year-old sister and how she is growing up. She was introduced to the Internet and television when she was about seven years old. I watched her slowly become more and more addicted to online games, social gaming networks for kids, education software, and Disney TV shows on Youtube. It’s as if her entire daily focal point is on the computer in the living room. She tunes the entire world out for hours everyday and her eyes gloss over as her brain hooks into the world of cyberspace. Getting her to just look up and focus on us when we are talking to her is a struggle.

Instead of using and expanding her imagination by reading and playing, my sister spends the majority of her leisure time online. I worry that all of the media is adversely effecting her development. I am not sure to what extent the constant connection is affecting her neurological responses, but I do know that her personality and reactions to social situations are extremely different from my own personality and reactions when I was her age. She is extremely volatile; after being constantly stimulated by media all day, any extraneous stimulation or stress throws her into a completely over-stimulated state. Temper tantrums are frequent and her real-life friendships suffer as she spends less and less time playing in person with her friends; they all have their own online gaming accounts and choose to spend their time together via the computer.

My experience of endless outdoor playtime and make-believe seems to be a foreign concept to my sister’s generation. In the book After the death of Childhood; Growing up in the Age of Electronic Media, David Buckingham explores this idea of the misplacement or loss of healthy childhoods. He explores the argument that electronic media is causing the disappearance or “death” of the type of childhood I had. Buckingham also touches on the idea that there is an ever-growing gap between different generation’s relationships with media and technology. He points out that the lines of what defines "childhood" are getting progressively fuzzy as the constant influence of media catapults children into pre-mature adulthood. 

The thing that is the most disturbing to me is that the amount of time my sister spends online is below the average of all of her friends and other kids her age. Everywhere I look, kids are plugged into their iPads, cell phones, laptops, Wii video games, etc., instead of spending their time actively playing with real-life toys and friends. My question is that is the world of cyberspace forcing healthy, playful childhoods into the backseat, or even destroying them all together? Can children develop properly with the constant stimulation from all of the surrounding media? I worry for the repercussions of this on my sister’s generation. 

~Cherise Glodowski

These Things Better be Durable

I still remember the words of caution from the AT&T salesperson upon my first iPhone purchase: "Be careful with these things, after using this you won’t be able to use any other phone." Considering how excited I was to finally have an iPhone I was quick to agree with him. But at the time I don’t think I realized exactly what his warning meant. My name is Yara Zokaie, and I am an iPhoneaholic. While I believe my iPhone has more benefits than detriments, I will also admit that my addiction is pathetic. No, that doesn’t mean I plan on cutting back. After all, the first step to recovery is admitting it, right? Well here's why I had to confess to an addiction, and how you can tell if you will soon be doing the same.

1) I use the internet on my iPhone.. while sitting in front of my laptop
2) I check my email on my computer about once a week. I check the e-mail on my iPhone.. as soon as it notifies me I have a new one. (roughly every 10 minutes)

3) I have about 30 "just in case I one day need them because who knows when you need to know who the 26th president is" apps.
4) I don't know my schedule. It's all in my calendar app.
5) I don’t own a camera.
6) I’m on Facebook all the time, but its not in my computer's internet history
7) I have my "to do" list, shopping list, notes to self, and online banking on my iPhone
8) Texting has become my preferred form of communication.
9) My phone is my alarm clock.
10) If my iPhone broke, I would spend a few days in bed eating ice cream and watching old movies.


If you're still wondering if iPhone addictions are real (after that list you're still wondering?), look no further than the Huffington Post. Only 6% of iPhone users claimed that they were not addicted, and 75% sleep with their phone next to them (guilty). My addiction was shoved in my face further when a simple glitch in my phone caused me to be late to work.. twice. An iPhone glitch on 1/1/11 caused iPhone alarms to stop working. Where was I during this crisis? Sleeping, along with the other 89% of iPhone users who don't own an alarm clock. One angry customer, Lindsay G, wrote to Steve Jobbs:

"Mr. Jobs, I’d like to let you know that you have officially, directly
contributed to unemployment in 2011. If you had warned me about the glitch,
I could have at least picked up a $5 battery operated alarm clock that would
have saved my job. Now I’m unemployed in a time when jobs are not easily
had, and I am short on my rent. So, Happy New Year to you, Mr. Jobs, I hope
you remember to shoot me an email next time there is any chance of a glitch."

It's not my character to blame my problems on someone else, but Lindsay does set a nice example.

Dear Apple,

Thanks for the iPhone addictions. It makes our lives so much more efficient, and that much more dependent.

PS: Why didn't you warn Lindsay of the glitch you didn't see coming?

A Virtual Reality

The BBC reported that in 2009, a South Korean couple returned home from a local internet cafe to find their infant daughter dead in her crib. The couple called the police and lied about their previous whereabouts, stating that they had found their daughter after waking up in the morning. The case was placed under investigation and a later autopsy determined that the infant had starved to death after suffering from long term malnutrition. Further investigation found that this couple had constantly left their daughter home alone, only to return once a day to give the child a single bottle of milk. The couple was arrested in March of 2010.

Authorities later found that the couple spent both day and night at a local internet café, raising a virtual daughter instead of their own. In essence, this couple was constantly connected to their video game. They had become so immersed in this game that they ignored anything unrelated to it. This couple was playing a massive multiplayer online role playing game, or MMORPG. An MMORPG is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world. This genre includes games such as World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy and Prius Online. Such games allow players to customize their character’s appearance, actions and behaviors. These players are then immersed into a unique virtual world and are allowed to grow as a character and form relationships with other players. To many, these games offer an opportunity to reinvent oneself in a virtual world and can become very addicting.

One might ask how a video game can become addicting enough to inadvertently kill one’s own child? Police officer Chung Jin-won told reporters that the Korean couple "lost their will to live a normal life" after losing their jobs. Prius Online gave them the opportunity to escape to a new world, one which they could easily control and live happily; however, the couple became lost in the game and forgot about their daughter and their lives at home.

The incident in South Korea certainly demonstrates the destructive nature of video games and their addictiveness. I, however, am one of the 15 million people who play these games each year and I, like most individuals, am able to lead a normal, healthy life. I believe that MMORPGs, like any activity, have various positive qualities when taken in moderation. They provide many new opportunities to video gamers and offer new ways to form friendships over long distances. Such video games have also been found to relieve stress and foster prosocial behaviors. These positive qualities may cause the addicting nature of MMORPGs; however, it is rare that events like those in South Korea that should serve as a warning to the potential danger of being constantly connected.

Is Technology Connecting or Disconnecting Families?

During my winter break, my parents and I took a trip to Tuscon, Arizona to visit the rest of our family for the holidays. Over the duration of our stay, it became increasingly apparent to my brother and I that our mother was attached to her cell phone and computer. At one point there was a complete upheaval in our night because the internet stopped working on my mom's computer (then was finally resolved in a forty minute phone conversation with tech support). These events opened my eyes, realizing how technology has dramatically changed our family dynamics. Even my mother, who banned television during the week in our younger years, has now succumbed to technological addiction.

I am just as guilty of these abuses as well. Numerous family adventures and meals came to a halt when I received an important e-mail or urgent phone call from a friend. Each of our technological addictions have completely altered our family interactions; every evening before dinner we converse over the tops of our laptops and at the dinner table all jump at the sound of a text. In a recent phone conversation with my mother, we talked about comments I had made on Facebook, rather than the activities of the day ahead. On the other hand, so many family moments have been shared using picture texts and skype. Using technology in this way, I have been able to witness each milestone in my nephew's young life, while attending college full time 300 miles away. I have seen the benefits and the disadvantages of a technologically savvy family and am curious how electronics impacted other families like ours.

In an article the New York Times published in June 2010, Kord Campbell and his wife were interviewed about Mr. Campell’s addiction to electronics. Brenda Campbell stated, “It seems like he can no longer be fully in the moment” while discussing his struggles with data over stimulation. I can relate to this in my own family interactions. Car rides are no longer a time for discussing the day’s activities, but an opportunity to change your Facebook status and check e-mails. There have also been some great benefits that have come with our smartphones, making our family more connected. We were able to receive hour by hour updates of my nephew opening presents from Oregon. It was very exciting to feel a connection to our family so far away but there were times I felt the constant multimedia messages were taking attention away from quality time spent with those who were present. For these reasons I am torn about whether or not our family has truly benefited from being constantly connected.

-Annie Roach

Lost in a Digital World

With ever growing numbers of people beginning to play online video games there has been an increasing trend in gamers becoming “addicted” to playing. Online games such as World of Warcraft and Everquest, are well known for having addictive properties. These games both fall under the category of MMORPG’s, massive multiplayer online role-playing games, and as such they do not have a fixed ending like most console based single player games, which are played offline. MMORPG’s are all carried out online and in many cases players are required to team up in the game and work together to achieve a common goal, which would be impossible for a single player, such as killing an extremely powerful boss or opening a door that requires numerous switches to be activated at the same time. I formerly played World of Warcraft and found the game to be very engrossing. I would not go so far as to say I was addicted, but I did spend large amounts of time playing on a regular, if not daily, basis.

In order for gaming to be considered an “addiction” the five main criteria are; salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse (Grusser et al. 2007). In a recent study 12% of gamers surveyed fulfilled three of these five criteria for addiction with regards to their gaming habits (Grusser et al. 2007). Gaming addictions are now thought to follow the same patterns as alcoholism and compulsive gambling, although simply spending large amounts of time playing video games does not necessarily mean that one is addicted (Chappell et al. 2006). While video games can take up large amounts of time, they have been proven to relieve stress and to provide players with an escape from their daily lives in a positive way.

Is Text Messaging Preventing Intellectual Growth?

Everyday I take the bus to and from class, and everyday more than half the people on the bus are fiddling on their cell phones. I am one of the few who is just sitting on the bus staring out the window. It amazes me that so many people feel this constant pressure always to be connected to other people through text messaging. When I am on the bus, I am surrounded by vibrating cell phones with incoming text messages, which makes it impossible for me to form a single thought. With the average American teenager both sending and receiving 2,272 text messages a month in 2008 according to the Nielsen Company, it is impossible for teenagers to develop an imagination without allowing time to space out and let their minds wonder. When a teenager is given a chance to do nothing, it seems like the first thing they want to do is go on their cell phones and start engaging in a text message conversation instead of allowing time for their brain to process everything that has happened that day.

According to a New York Times article called Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction, researchers have found that the effects of technology are more powerful in teenagers than adults. For instance, teenagers’ brains are still developing and can more easily habituate to multitasking than adults’ brains. Technology makes teenagers less likely to be able to hold their attention on one thing. I think it is important to not get so consumed in technology and the need to always be connected to people. It is important to give yourself down time to form thoughts, opinions, or ideas in order to grow into an intellectual person.

-Christina Breitenbuecher

Talk to the Handsfree

The photo above is a link to a recording of my senior project at UCLA, an interpretive dance about my addiction to my cell phone. The project was based on my senior thesis, titled "Talk To The Handsfree," and expanded upon the ways in which long distance relationships affect our short distance relationships with the people around us.

The first ten seconds of the video was a prank played on the audience. After the curtains opened and shortly before the lights went up, I asked all of the performers to whip out their cell phones to check the time or for text messages and missed calls. Sure enough, one of my professors who had sat in the house with the rest of the audience informed me later on that over half the audience had done the same thing and it took them a few moments to look up from their own phones to see that we were mocking them.

The first section of the performance was a joke about the awkwardness of being in such close proximity to other bodies (i.e. when we are in a crowded elevator). My theory was that we have grown quite bad at socializing with neighbors or making new friends quickly because cell phones and wi-fi allow us to take the comfort of our already-made-friends and family with us wherever we go; whereas before these techological developments, we may have been forced to form new relationships. But then again, perhaps I'm wrong, and we've always been awkward with face to face interactions.

The rest of the project comments on our relationships to and through our cell phones, automated voice messaging and automated responses (i.e. "lol" and "omg"), multi-tasking, being in multiple places at once, and so on. I like to leave room for interpretation of course.