How Cell Phones Influence Our Everyday Lives

Before cell phones came out in the 1970s, our parents and grandparents lived in an era of actually communicating with one another and simply bonding through a real connection with other human beings around them. If they were bored, they spent their time playing outside and using their imaginations because what use, or purpose, did they have with a cell phone? They made memories right and they are able to remember it all because they were never distracted, and they spent their time having fun and never missing out. How much has changed since then and why is it so different from before?

 Let’s fast forward to our current time in the era of 2019. Everything has completely changed. When was the last time our generation spent a day outside using our own imaginations? Not very likely to happen nowadays. This is all due to the what we call technology and that includes cell phones. Cell phones have changed from generation to generation from flip phones to slide up key boards, to touch screens, to clear glass screens and so much more. Technology is becoming more and more advanced every day because of how well they succeed from getting us to buy and use their products which ends up with us helping these companies develop bigger and more advanced products to distract us with. Technology not only distracts us from everyday life events, but it also eats up our attention and pretty much just has us focused on that one thing just like it plans for us to. Our generation’s attention span is very small where we don’t really focus or pay attention to the most important things, but instead it usually just goes through one ear and out the other. For example, on the texts we’ve been discussing in class, the iTrainer, talked about by our writer, Williams, discusses how the cellphone in a way controls our everyday lives and schedules of what we do. This can be true and is very valid in a lot of individual's situations that they are usually in every day. Though Williams makes a good point, I believe apart from distracting us it can in some way be a motivation to us and our lives by moving us up whether it be in business, our passions, or anything that we as individuals have such interest in that showcases what makes us. Though I do agree with several outcomes that Williams explains about the "iTrainer", I also believe that our phones do not need to be looked at as something we need, but rather as tools that help us gain knowledge on things we learn about every day. To be fair, technology is a great tool and resource when it comes to researching and using it for educational purposes, but when it revolves around our lives and something we can’t live without is when it starts to be something we should be concerned about because this can potentially lead to more problems and it taking over the world in general.

 Another example, you’re a college student and we all know college is not easy and consists of a lot of your time, money, and priorities. You’re in class and you realize your professor is going on and on about a topic you think you know quite well, but deep down you feel you should listen to the lecture just to reassure yourself you know what you’re actually doing. While deciding, you look at your phone and you see a “We haven’t seen you play in a while. Come back and try to win the million-dollar jackpot!” from the old Casino game you haven’t given any attention to. What is your first thought? Are you going to go and win the money or are you going to listen to the lecture you’re paying for? Well, if you decided to listen to the lecture then you made the right move, but if you decided to carry on with trying to win the money then you’re very much distracted by your phone. Though this does not just apply to college students, this applies to anyone and everyone who feels the need to be on their phone every second of the day because they feel more “entertained” and “not bored” instead of connecting with people around them who will more likely be there for you then a product of technology.

 A classmate within my Social Media and Society class asked us in the class to conduct an experiment where we to turn off our phones for an hour or two and to try to do it at a time where we normally would be checking our phones or perusing social media, then to explain how it made us feel afterwards. Though I thought this experiment was going to be super easy, I was very wrong in the end of it. Before I started the experiment, I waited until I had a class which lasts for an hour and 15 mins where I turned my phone completely off and took my Apple Watch off. I am going to say it was somewhat successful at first because during class when there wasn’t much going on I caught myself leaning into my backpack to get my phone only to remind myself it’s off and that it needed to stay off in order to further go with this. Another thing, I am so used to picking up my arm and looking at my wrist where my watch is at and I will be honest there were times where I looked pretty dumb because the watch wasn’t there. Needless to say, I did last through the time without my phone but just wanting to entertain myself with my phone because nothing important was going on in class showed me how much I actually go on my phone even when I don’t need to. As a result, I truly believe technology has a good amount of control over my life because my phone is the first thing I went for instead of talking to the person next to me or doing something productive to keep me occupied from wanting to grab my phone. It was difficult and after class I got my phone and watch and turned them on and the only thing I truly missed out on was what was going on in my family group chat, but instead I was thinking I was missing out on what’s trending or happening throughout the world when I should always be focusing on school work. So, for me it was a true realization and incredible to see that I would rather turn to my phone to communicate than to the people around me which is something I will now personally work on because I do not want to be remembered as someone who never enjoyed life and the memories I made, but instead chose to be on my phone distracted and paying no type of attention.

In conclusion, learning about technology and realizing how in apply it within my everyday life has significantly changed the way I want to live my life and how I want to use my phone less and only use it for when I actually do have the time and not during the time I need to focus. Life is happening all around us every day and I would rather go and enjoy it than to live my life on my cell phone. Now, what will you do to reduce your phone usage and how will it affect your life whether it is in a positive or negative way? Try it.