In reference to the text Diary in the Day of the Postman by Rebecca Solnit, I am choosing the smartphone as an object which will signify how our culture has changed over the past 30 years. Like Solnit, I believe society, especially the younger generation, has suffered greatly with the expansion of the Digital Revolution that we are now living in. One of the main perpetrators in my opinion is the emergence of the smartphone. Considering that presently there are over four billion mobile phone users in the world right now, and that 3.5 billion people with access to the internet in 2016, a 900% increase since the year 2000, it is no wonder that our society has changed drastically in these past few years. Thanks to smartphones, the vast population of the world now have easy access to the internet from their back pocket. In recent years smartphones have become the most popular way to surf the web, so with that in mind I have chosen the smartphone as an object which will signify how our culture has changed in recent history. Smartphone bg Social scientist Jeffrey Hancock studies how when we are continually connected to each other on social networks, it makes us more deceptive as humans. He raises the example of how many times people text “I’m on my way”, or “sorry my battery was dead”, when in fact the opposite was true. We are living in a new age where we have constant access to the internet and the ability to contact one another 24/7. Because of this, its becoming harder and
Jean M. Twenge despises smartphones! That is the initial reaction to the title of her article “Have Smartphones Destroyed A generation?” . This will be an analysis of the effectiveness of the article written by Jean M. Twenge about the effects of smartphone usage on younger generations. With modern reliance growing more heavily on smartphones and younger generations being born with these devices around them, Twenge has gathered information pertaining to this new generational adaption that began to show signs around 2012. “Around 2012, I noticed abrupt shifts in teen behaviors and emotional states. The gentle slopes of the line graphs became steep mountains and sheer cliffs, and many of the distinctive characteristics of the Millennial
“More than three billion people worldwide now use the internet (Time), and 80 percent of them access if from their smartphones” (Smart Insights). A smartphone is a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer, typically having a touchscreen interface, and much more. There is an abundant amount of smartphone brands out there in the world and while they all cost different prices, they all perform the same job. Each person uses their smartphone for various reasons, whether it’s for work or to make calls or texts. Smartphones have changed society in various ways, both good and bad. Although countless individuals think that smartphones have ruined American society, smartphones have actually benefited society because of more safety precautions, information on hand, and entertainment.
Cellphones are most common in society. The ease of access allows us to have the world at our fingertips 24 hours a day and we never have to unplug. We can surf the web, book a flight, check the weather, and message a friend 1000 miles away without leaving our bed.
Smartphones are at the hands of over millions of people and many of them will never know life without smart phones. The article “Have smartphones destroyed a generation” by Jean M. Twenge is about “iGen” a generation which the author describes as “a generation shaped by the smartphone and by the concomitant rise of social media” (Twenge). Jean M. Twenge is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and contributed in researching generational differences for 25 years. Twenge is claiming smartphones have completely uttered the lives of teenagers. Twenge argues in the article, “Have smartphones destroyed a generation” that teenagers in the generation “iGen” has been shifted for the worst. Teenagers today are less likely to be independent; for instance, teens are less likely to date or find employment. Furthermore, teenagers are more likely to face depression, along with suicide and cyberbullying. Finally, teens have fewer social interaction making them lonely and not spending time enough with family.
(Introduction) “Put down the phone, turn off your the laptop, and do something-anything-that doesn’t involve a screen” (Twenge 63). It is astonishing the amount of time teens spend on phones. Jean Twenge discusses the effects smartphone usage has created among the younger and past generations in the article, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation”. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to aware readers about the many consequences the smartphone usage has impacted generations.
In her article “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, Jean M. Twenge discusses the effects on “generation i” with rising smartphone and social media usage. In the article, she provides multiple statistics to support her claims on what’s happening with the “i generation”, and generations past through social media use. She concludes that while smartphones have some positive social impact on the generation (like lower teen pregnancy rates), there has been real damage to the generation as well. I have concluded that, our generation has been more negatively impacted through smartphone usage than positively impacted. This is a strong point to make but, through my own experiences and, after reading Twenge’s article I find myself thinking about what smartphones have done to us as a growing generation. I have witnessed firsthand numerous downsides to having a smartphone that Twenge reports on.
“Put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something-anything-that doesn’t involve a screen” (Twenge 63). It is astonishing the amount of time teens spend on phones. Jean Twenge discusses the negative effects smartphone usage has created among the young and past generations in the article, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation”. The purpose of Twenge’s article is to aware readers about the many issues the smartphone usage has created on generations. Twenge narrates different stories about young teen’s experiences with phones and social media. Twenge also provides readers with statistics and some studies of many effects caused by smartphones. Twenge gives emphasize to differences between generations. According to Twenge, today’s
In today’s society, the use of mobile devices has taken over our lives in every way possible.
Jean M. Twinge proved that showing the bar graph of using smartphones during the day and night; they found lots of impact. Smartphones have defined the characteristics of the millennials; this is why it has led to changes in the society. The author has been researching the use of smartphones with this generation for 25 years and has found that this characteristic has come to define this generation. This generation has been increasing since the “baby boomer “era that occurred after World War II, which started in 1939. Twinge was interested in studying the millennial generation to find as much information as she could. She explains that she found out that the excessive use of smartphones changes teen behaviors and emotional states. She also showed us her analyses data to show us the differences. She explains there is a big difference between the millennials and the predecessors like the way they view the world. It is not about only their behavior they had that was the difference but also how they spent their time. “In 2012, Americans
“Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” by Jean M. Twenge on The Atlantic in September 2017 are changing people generation by generation. Twenge's thesis is that smartphones are changing the way teens act. Twenge is comparing baby boomers when they were teens to teens now. Teens now are shaped by phones. Smartphones are affecting teens by changing their personality and the way they look at themselves. She is stating that because of smartphones, teens are becoming disconnected from the outside world. In addition, smartphones are making teens less social and less independent. Also, another effect with smartphones is that they are making teens depressed and suicidal. In 2012, 50% of people had smartphones after 2012, is when suicidal and depression rate kept rising. The only good things Twenge states about smartphones, is that teens are more safe now. If there is an emergency, they can immediately contact someone. Furthermore, teens now have more individualism than millennials did. Twenge interviews a “13-year-old” girl and pulls her audience in by telling the girls story with phones. Twenge pulls back to the question, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”. Teens today do not see the bad affects a smartphone has on them. They are too attached to their phones and also blinded to see it from another person's perspective.
Ever since cellular phones first came to be in the 1980’s, people have been using them to carry out conversations, ask questions, or meet new people. Once cell phones reached a height of internet capabilities, smartphones were created. Cell phones from then on ended up changing society entirely. This research study could explain the effects of cell phones from their creation to today’s society and how they would influence the future generations. This study would also focus on the evolution of how cell phones become even more involved in our lives and how they truly influence us. This study would be beneficial to our generation by teaching them how technology is expanding, and the lives of humans will get easier as time goes on. Furthermore, this study would be beneficial as a report on how cell phones came to be in our history. This would expectedly heighten the awareness of society to how different our lives could be according to technological development. To the future researchers, this study could be used as a base for data in future development into how society adapts.
The popularity of smartphones is unparalleled in modern society. Not only are children receiving smartphones sooner in life, but many adults and teenagers are unable to remember a time in which the internet did not exist. Thus, daily activities focus heavily on electronics: teenagers no longer meet with their friends unchaperoned and are more likely to use Snapchat than go on a date. This asocial epidemic primarily affecting Generation Z—people born between the mid-1990s to the early 2000s—is examined by Jean Twenge, a generational analyst and psychologist, in the article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” As she outlines the unsuspected effects of cellphone obsession, one thing becomes clear: cellphones, particularly social media, are destroying a generation.
There is no debate that our generation is the most technologically advanced generation to ever inhabit the Earth. In the last few decades we have literally changed almost every aspect of our way of life. What took people days or months to do can be done now in seconds. There are many new advancement that have had major effects on our society, and (probably) one of the most popular of these advancements is the iPhone. A smart phone that is seemingly capable of almost anything. From instantly messaging and calling people, browsing the internet, playing games, taking pictures/video, buying apps that make life easier, etc. The list goes on and on. This critique will look at current sociology research to see exactly how this
Technology has, since the primitive years, always been used to invent tools in order to solve problems. This would, in turn, simplify and make man’s life easier. Through advancements in the field, man has become more efficient on both the macro- and microscopic level. Anything nowadays can be attained with either the flip of a switch or a click of a mouse. One particular technology that came about in this time was the smartphone. Since 2008, the smartphone, a device that combines a normal cell phone with a computer, typically offering Internet access, data storage, e-mail capability, etc. all in your hand was deemed as ground-breaking technology and created one of the largest and most competitive market in terms of
At first, I was going to analyze and write about smartphones, however I found it more efficient to write also about a particular smartphone to narrow it down from such a broad technological artifact, such as answering who designed it, what for, what their position and the impact they want to have on society was, and their future visions. Therefore, I chose the iPhone as the centerpiece of smartphones I will be analyzing and an emphasis on applications. However, some of this information is relevant and interchangeable to all other smartphones. IPhones and smartphones allow us to access constant information and offer it the way we want it, as it is completely customizable now to fit our learning style. They keep us organized, send information to us in different ways, even shape and offer solutions such as for politics, economies, problems whether individual ones or globally. Smartphones capitalize on shared knowledge and has opened the door to inventors and those who have the knowledge to make our world a more connected place and lives easier by sharing it with us to use. We are able to communicate with other people far off, through space-time compression or shrinking-space to gather news and information.