Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

[LucieCat]

Honestly, I was a shut-in regardless of any type of technology. I also put a ton of effort into my schoolwork. Well, and I didn't have many friends and the ones I did have tended to either be similar or never invite me out. I think there are still probably a good amount of teens that are like that now.

I think smartphones are useful tools. But they can be used harmfully. I think social media is a HUGE chunk of the problem. And that's not just for young people. Plenty of fully grown adults who should know better use social media as a platform for insulting others, whining, gossiping, oversharing, and every possible negative consequence of social media you can think of.

 

[Stigmata]

I'd still rule it as a net negative myself. Information is great and all but is it really worth good mental health?

Who says the two have to be mutually exclusive? Just by the sheer numbers of people using smartphones, it doesn't mean that everyone will develop an unhealthy relationship or dependency on them.

This is kind of like the alcohol/cigarettes argument.

Also, in regards to being social, are we really less social now in the age of social media and handheld phones that can be used to remain in constant contact with anyone in the world at all times? I think we're just in the midst of a change in social dynamics, and like anything else some people embrace the change whereas others resist -- Moreso than any other time period in history do we, as an individual, have the ability to meet with and connect with other people anywhere in the world; no long are you restricted to the confines of your local community for socializing and finding potential mates.

I will agree that in-person social dynamics suffers and somewhat breakdown due to not being the predominant medium anymore, and overtime it will lead to degenerated ability to recognize and adhere to developed norms and verbal/non-verbal social cues, they're replaced by new ones catered to suit the current medium.

 

[Lark]

Them luciferian mobile phones, probably responsible for the all the damned uppidity lady folks deciding not to put out too.

 

[anticlimatic]

Who says the two have to be mutually exclusive? Just by the sheer numbers of people using smartphones, it doesn't mean that everyone will develop an unhealthy relationship or dependency on them. This is kind of like the alcohol/cigarettes argument

Just because you smoke and drink, you might not get cancer from it it's true- but is that really a good argument for smoking and drinking?

I think we're just in the midst of a change in social dynamics, and like anything else some people embrace the change whereas others resist

Those charts I posted certainly do indicate change- and if that's the kind of change you want to embrace, be my guest.

 

[Typh0n]

Them luciferian mobile phones, probably responsible for the all the damned uppidity lady folks deciding not to put out too.

...why?

 

[Coriolis]

...why?

Don't you know - it's quite the rage in some circles nowadays to blame everything on "emancipated women", much as some years ago we blamed everything on El Niño.

 

[Typh0n]

Don't you know - it's quite the rage in some circles nowadays to blame everything on "emancipated women", much as some years ago we blamed everything on El Niño.

I know, it's just that the statement seemed more like bait than something innocent.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I am not too pleased with certain aspects of Smart phones and internet that are already mentioned here. Especially since I did read some books on the topic. If anything we all stare at the screen way too much each day.


Plus I will add to the mix that smart phones have English alphabet and many letters from first language are left out. Therefore certain improvised replacements had to be found, but with this the entire generations basically lost the certain connection with their first language. Especially since many words got replaced with their English counter-part through the mass use of internet. What in the end can make messages unclear or it can even lead into the rise of anti-western or anti-globalist sentiment, since many regardless of this already think that we are under economic and perhaps even political occupation. So for me this really isn't simple or trivial issue.

Just for the record - Croatian alphabet

 

[anticlimatic]

I know, it's just that the statement seemed more like bait than something innocent.

Kind of out of place in a non political fish tank.

 

[Mole]

I think smart phones are changing us, but we don't know how they are charging us.

 

[SD45T-2]

I've never had a smartphone and I've been lonely for years.

 

[slushy]

impersonally, i see far larger trends than smartphone usage at play here.

personally, as an introvert, social media and foruming often become staples in my social life; having access to those resources on my phone is an added bonus.

i am not a fan of the phone-based platforms (e.g. Tinder).

the author is in hysterics.

 

[Codex]

While there are negatives, I don't think it's fair to say smartphones have destroyed a generation. There were times when the largest percentage of society couldn't read and write, a time when people stuck their faces in a book or newspaper to escape reality, a time when people began to have all consuming careers-spending more time at work than with family. All before your friendly mobile phone.
We've been on the decline from our beginning, the only difference now is the speed in which it is happening.

 

[Coriolis]

Smart phones encourage even more multitasking than people already were doing, which comes at the significant cost of the ability to focus for sustained periods on "deeper" tasks, as described in this article, referencing the book Deep Work by Cal Newport.

Much of social media is specifically built to fragment your time. Not unlike a slot machine, it rewards you with “shiny things”—likes, hearts, retweets, comments, and other positivity in exchange for time. Before long, your day becomes disrupted as you push, pull, and swipe for updates and notifications.

Even a quick glance at Twitter or reviewing an email has a negative impact on your ability to focus on tasks. In fact, that one quick glance costs you about 15 to 20 minutes of attention loss. Our brains are simply not wired for that level of distraction. The barrage of the social media world is changing the landscape of our brain’s reward centers. In addition to impacting our cognitive ability to get work done, it also concerns medical professionals, who are seeing increased rates of anxiety other psychological issues among college students.

 

[Mind Maverick]

My thoughts on it are parallel to the overused saying about how guns don't shoot people, people use guns to shoot people.

Likewise, cell phones don't ruin generations, peoples' nature is already there and cell phones are just a tool.

They're wonderful, useful little gadgets...but ultimately, we are self-detrimental, and overusing smart phones is just one of many manifestations of this nature.

People love pleasure to a fault. Anything that's not done in moderation is going to cause other things to become neglected.

When other things get neglected, we start seeing negative drawbacks that pivot around the new thing that's been implemented...

but in this case, it's not always the inanimate object, it's just the excessive use of the inanimate object. In other words, I don't think the smart phone can necessarily be ruled out as entirely negative.

Some get addicted or get hooked on dopamine effects, have a weakness for the thing and can't do moderation; others do just fine and can keep their lives balanced without removing the thing from their lives entirely.

Alternatively, since it can aid in escapism, the tool's existence may play a role in the sense that escapism and imbalance go hand-in-hand;

escapism results in neglecting things, and it would be harder if the means of escape weren't so easily accessible...but now I'm getting into technology in general.

That's my two cents.



Edit:
Interestingly enough, it seems like it connects us but in reality it's putting distance between us during interaction.

 

[Nomendei]

In my opinion No. It’s not the smartphone that destroys it, but the generation itself. There are people with smartphones addiction, Kids with bad grades because they spend the whole night playing angry birds, Cyberbullying and the list goes on. Smartphones are just tools. A gun alone can’t kill, the user does. Smartphones allow us to speak to people at the other side of the earth, spreads knowledge around the world, immortalize moments, makes you find your way, teach you how to cook, and can even help you become healthy. Until there is an Artificial Intelligence who decides to destroy humanity, you can’t blame technology for the problems humans created.

 

[Typh0n]

In my opinion No. It’s not the smartphone that destroys it, but the generation itself. There are people with smartphones addiction, Kids with bad grades because they spend the whole night playing angry birds, Cyberbullying and the list goes on. Smartphones are just tools. A gun alone can’t kill, the user does. Smartphones allow us to speak to people at the other side of the earth, spreads knowledge around the world, immortalize moments, makes you find your way, teach you how to cook, and can even help you become healthy. Until there is an Artificial Intelligence who decides to destroy humanity, you can’t blame technology for the problems humans created.

Well, I think this reasoning is correct when it comes to adults but not children. The whole "a gun alone can't kill, the user does" is correct and can be applied to the abuse of smartphones too.

I know Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg don't allow their kids to use social media or have access to smartphones so if I think the blame is partly on parents for allowing kids to use those things to begin with. So I think the fault is on ignorant (not necessarily "bad" in a moral sense, just misinformed) parenting.

 

[Mole]

Smart phones are an environment to which we respond.

We look right through the screen to the content, and the environment of the phone is invisible to us.

The phone now is spread across the world from Africa, to the Middle East, to Asia, to Oceania, to North and South America, to Europe and the Russias.

We are enchanted by the smart phone, we can't take our eyes off it, or our block our ears, or stop feeling it in our hands, we are enchanted and entranced by the smart phone.

The illiterate and the literate are enchanted by the smart phone.

Does the smart phone have a different effect on the literate or a different effect on the illiterate?

 

[Snow as White]

I think there are too many other factors at play to allow justification of the smartphone as the smoking gun in this scenario.

Pulling out the metric of "feeling lonely." I would say that social media is more of the culprit than smart phones. Social media has built its empire on the human need to keep up with the joneses and enable others to try and achieve that elusive goal post moving benchmark. You can sit for hours scrolling through your friends or school companions "news" feeds and seeing them showcasing and spotlight the 1% of their life where things look commercial perfect (after they bought that new car, or spent 5 weeks with side effects on some new pharmaceutical) and think that this is their entire life.

 

[ducks]

Hii...you don't know me, but kind of weird that smart phones, which make it easier to connect with people at any time of the day no matter where anyone is, might actually be making them less connected and less happy.