Smartphones
– Socially Beneficial or a Vice to the Community

Introduction

With
the release of the first cell phones, the benefits linked to mobile
communication soon become very clear due to the flexibility and freedom the
devices offered the user. Over the years the technology has advanced and cell
phones have evolved in to powerful smartphones which deliver some outstanding
functions and features. While these features are designed to deliver a better
experience to the user, recent research questions the functionality and
benefits linked to smartphone use among certain individuals. This is due to
research showing an increasing number of people misusing the smartphone to
communicate and for entertainment which is resulting in them being
unproductive. With this in mind the smartphones function is being questioned in
recent years with many skeptics claiming the technology to be more of a vice to
social development and interaction as compared to being a benefit.

What Is
Causing the Misuse of Smartphones?

Communication
has never been easier than it is today but unlike the past when people mainly
used phones to communicate formally and for business, today smartphones have
converted communication to being a social affair. This has resulted in many
smartphones user to communicate informally and for leisure with many getting
carried away and unable to control the use of the gadgets. VoIP and internet
chat application have resulted in delivering a very economical mode of
communication and this has resulted in promoting people to over use the
gadgets. But while this has been registered among many users, it’s important to
know many people only use the programs for commercial and business
communication with many considering them highly profitable (Lee, 2014)..

This
clearly demonstrates that smartphone users remain in ultimate control of the
gadgets use, making it more of the user control rather than the gadgets fault.
There is also no doubt that smartphone have helped improve business,
communication and commerce as a whole when utilized in the correct manner but
it’s the user’s responsibility to manage the gadgets.

Misuse
among Minors

Unlike
the past when children and adults requested their parents to provide them with
a laptop for studies, today children and teenagers are utilizing uncontrolled
smartphone. Many acquire the smartphone under the pretext of learning and
studies, but the misuse of chatting portals and uncensored access to the
internet soon follows as they master their devices. There are many parental
guidance smartphone apps available on the internet but few parent know
regarding these facility and this leads to the children handling unmonitored
smartphone thus exposing them to too much information.

Smartphone
Use Is Disrupting Social Get Together and Physical Activity

Today
smartphone allow friends and family to remain at close communication with their
loved ones but this is also developing huge rifts between the individuals. In
the past friends would meet at the park and discuss the day’s events and gossip
which promoted a positive social relationship. Smartphone have disrupted this delicate
balance where not people are in constant communication and don’t need to meet
their friends or family in person. This is leading many people to develop
isolation and fail to interact with people in the required manner thus
affecting social interaction negatively.

Benefits Linked To the Technology

Only
discussing the negative aspects linked to smartphone use is not fair since
there are also many benefits linked to the smartphone. Mobile communication,
multipurpose gadget use-ability, low cost communication and many other
facilities are all major benefits linked to smart phone use. Today
international business, outsourcing and commerce have become very simple and
affordable for people with the required skills and expertise through the use of
smartphone. This is because they offer a wide verity of communication modes and
many are as powerful as a small computer thus making it possible for people to
communicate, develop and maintain business ties. Easy communication and the
ability to surf the web also deliver more opportunities to skilled professional
who are capable of finding clients searching or specific qualities and skills
on the international market (Aitken,
2015)..

Conclusion

The
past two decades have been termed as the technological boom and digital
technology has registered massive gains but only when they have been utilized
correctly. Misuse of digital technology has also led to an increase in crime
rate, unemployment, low educational qualification and laziness. These problems
are mainly linked to the misuse of the technologies by individual users who are
unable to manage the proper or positive use of the technology. Smartphone
technology is a blessing for many people and it’s critical that the individual
using the technology learns to manage and use it for a positive purpose so as
to make the technology a benefit rather than a vice to the community.

References

1. Cobb, S., & Lee, A. (2014, June). Malware
is called malicious for a reason: The risks of weaponizing code. InCyber Conflict (CyCon 2014), 2014
6th International Conference On(pp.
71-84). IEEE.

2. Jiang, S., Zhou, P., & Li, M. (2015).
Detecting Phantom Data Usage on Smartphones with Analysis of Contextual
Information.International
Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks,501,
135150.

3. Gielen, A. C., McDonald, E. M., Omaki, E.,
Shields, W., Case, J., & Aitken, M. (2015). A smartphone app to communicate
child passenger safety: an application of theory to practice.Health education research,30(5), 683-692.