G2G TTYL

Oh hello!

Now that's better...full words. Text talk is one of my pet hates, but unfortunately it is unavoidable given the predominance and influence of mobile devices in our lives. Don't get me wrong, I am not immune to the wonders of a hand held mobile device...after all, I own a personal mobile phone, a work mobile phone, a tablet, an iPod Touch, a personal laptop and a work laptop (a bit excessive, I know!) 

Source: McCue, 2013

Mobile phones are the ultimate social media tool...I can communicate through phone calls (although who actually uses their phone to talk to people these days), but better still, I can text, email, Facebook post, 'tweet', 'pin', share, like, and as of this week, write an article on my very own blog! If that isn't enough, my mobile phone is also my recipe book, shopping list, budget tracker, exercise buddy and major source of entertainment. But don't go labelling me 'addicted'...I belong to an alarmingly large number of Australian's who find it a little hard to 'switch off' from the digital world.

A recent Telstra 2013 Smartphone Index survey (The Nielson Company, 2013) states that...

"Smartphone ownership doubled over 4 years and is continuing to grow" (p4) 

"4G users spend an average of 9.5 hours accessing mobile internet each week" (p7)

"54% (of surveyed Australians) agree that they use their mobile phone as 

their main 'time filler'" (p11)

"79% (of surveyed Australians) agree that their mobile phone is never off" (p14)

OK, so we know most of us are pretty much obsessed with our mobile devices, but we also know they are ultra-convenient and transforming the way we communicate, consume news and entertainment, and undertake boring menial tasks. But have we become too dependent on our mobile devices? 

Hans Geser (2006) has explored the social effects of being constantly switched on which includes an ability to "avoid reliance on our own judgement" (Geser 2006, p8) because we have constant access to family and friends who can make decisions for us. There is also the issue of privacy, and the blurring of lines between social circles. Do you want your boss knowing what you get up to on the weekend? What about your father? Given we are the generation of over-sharers, we might not have that control anymore.

Some critics go as far as saying we are so dependent on mobile devices, that we are at risk of becoming cyborgs - given that a cyborg is"a human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices" (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000). What do you think? Is the human race so dependent on mobile devices that we are doomed to become cyborgs? Or are we just super-efficient humans when we use them to their full potential?

Source: Whitehead, 2009

Amber Case explores the concept in the video We Are All Cyborgs Now (Case 2010). Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Bye for now,

Lisa

Reference List

McCue, TJ 2013, How to Avoid Mobile Device Overload [image], Small Business Trends, 9 April 2013, viewed 2 December 2013, <http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/04/avoid-mobile-device-overload.html>

The Nielson Company 2013, Telstra 2013 Smartphone Index, Nielson and Telstra, Oct 2013, viewed 16 November

Geser, H 2006, 'Is the Cell Phone Undermining the Social Order?: Understand Mobile Technology from a Sociological Perspective', Knowledge, Technology and Policy, Spring2006, Vol. 19 Issue 1, p8

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000, Definition: Cyborg, Houghton Mifflin Company, accessed 14 Nov 2013

Whitehead, J 2009, Cyborgs [image], Political Foundations of Edutech, November 2009, viewed 4 December 2013, <http://politicalfoundationsofedutech.pbworks.com/w/page/492653/Cyborgs>

Case, A 2010, Amber Case: We Are All Cyborgs Now, TED.com, January 2010, viewed 18 November 2013, <http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now.html>