Have you ever felt like your world has come to a complete stop...? Ever felt lonely....? Vulnerable...? Confused...? All at the same time? No....? Have you ever lost your smartphone...? Yes...? Tell me how you feel now?
As the Smartphone era of iPhones, Androids, Blackberries, HTCs and galaxies continues to boom, so do the functionality of Mobile 2.0 within these Smartphones. As a result more and more people are becoming attached to their Smartphones. social networking sites i.e. Facebook & Twitter have not been slow to pick up on this aspect. Too long have we been static in front of a computer screen, having to continually find a convenient place to power up our laptop or having to rush home to tweet how our day was. Nowadays, whether you are at a concert, in a restaurant, lecture or even the toilet…, with the touch of a button you can be interacting with the majority of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or even Skype to name a few.New audiences are now able to enter social networking sites through the channel of their Smartphones like never before. The reason this is better for the social networking organisations is because there is less cost involved for the user, as Smartphones tend to be cheaper than personal computers, Laptops or Tablets.
So...What is Mobile 2.0?
Well, Wikipedia refers to Mobile 2.0 as “services that integrate the social web with the core aspects of mobility – personal, localized, always-on and ever-present. These services are appearing on wireless devices such as smart phones and multimedia feature phones that are capable of delivering rich, interactive services as well as being able to provide access and to the full range of mobile consumer touch points including talking, texting, capturing, sending, listening and viewing.”
Although, Mobile 2.0 is nothing new and has been around for a long thing, it’s the usability factor and the richness of the user generated content that makes mobile 2.0 so fascinating. Instantly we can tweet about waiting for a bus, see the faces of the people we are talking to (face time), let people know where we are anywhere in the world. We can even argue that Mobile 2.0 combines the online aspect of someone’s life with their social events simultaneously.
With this gargantuan technology in the palm of our hands mixed with mobility, I wonder what psychological effects this imposes on us. A study was conducted by (Walsh et al., 2007) on young adolescents being stripped from their mobile phone and the psychological effects were recorded. According to Walsh “Participants reported feeling frustrated, angry and concerned at times when they were unable to use their phones, indicating that withdrawal is occurring. The most common symptom of withdrawal reported, however, was feeling ‘lost’.” I would like to concur with the findings, as I would believe that more people would rather lose their wallet rather than their Smartphone due to the sentimental value of the information that we have in our Smartphones. One might believe that the social data within our Smartphone i.e. contacts, messages, pictures represent different stages in our life and the thought of starting again is really detrimental for the user.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with the statements above? Could you cope without your Smartphone? What is your view on Mobile 2.0? Does the information in your Smartphone define who you are? Do you use social networking sites on your Smartphone? Lastly, is your Smartphone more precious than gold...?
References
Walsh, Shari P. and White, Katherine M. and Young, Ross M. (2007) Young and connected:
Psychological influences of mobile phone use amongst Australian youth. In Goggin, Gerard and
Hjorth, Larissa, Eds. Proceedings Mobile Media 2007, pages pp. 125-134, University of Sydney.
Background information regarding Mobile 2.0 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_2.0
Some interesting applications from the experts in mobile 2.0 - http://mobile20.eu/
A small overview around Mobile 2.0 - http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/understanding_mobile_2.php
More info regarding Mobile 2.0 - http://webtrends.about.com/od/mobileweb20/a/whatis-mobile20.htm
I agree with this. I have had to send my phone off for repair and am using a Nokia C1 which has no features at all! I feel completely lost without my smart phone, and as a result I am uploading much less content to social networking sites. I am also using the internet to look at the news etc much less, and I don't bother using the camera as its is 0.5 megapixels! Can't wait to get my phone back, once you have used mobile 2.0 you can't go back!
ReplyDeleteI also agree. I use my smartphone every day to check facebook, check tweets, and write new status updates. I also use the camera quite a lot, and use the internet on my mobile phone to check the news and get directions on the odd occasion. I know someone who has a standard nokia, which I find useless to use, and another friend of mine still has a non-colour display mobile phone. I simply can't live without my smartphone, and have installed tracking software on it if it gets stolen; thats how much I want to keep track of my smartphone.
ReplyDeletethanks for comment bbriana, I feel for you, its never good to lose your phone for that amount of time. The same thing happened to my iphone so I understand what you are going through.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment julianwoj, it is much appreciated, you seem to use your smart phone quite a lot, well, and I guess this is totally normal in this day and age. I see that you have installed a tracking device in your Smartphone; this is very interesting and could be something that everyone might do in the future. If you are that worried about the content on your Smartphone you should back up all your data on your phone every now and again, just in case you need to replace your Smartphone due to theft or damage beyond repair.
ReplyDeleteYeah i definately feel lost when my smartphone is not working. Not being able to access facebook or twitter when your away from home makes you feel like you dont know whats going on. I used to be terrible at checking my emails but since i got my iphone, i can respond very quickly which means I lose less opportunities. Alot of smartphones have maps and travel routes so when your on the go and you need to find a place. you normally can just be assisted by your phone where as back in the day you would whip out a map or ask for directions. Though i think its a great thing to always be connected. its terrible when your in a social setting, talking to someone and they just whip out their phone and start typing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Isaac. I know what you mean when you feel lost without your Smartphone, as this seems to be a common feeling, among this generation and the next generation to come. Somehow we have been put in a state of Smartphone addiction when it comes to the content and social aspects of our Smart phones. Maybe we need Social Smartphone Rehab, as the old saying goes too much of one thing is not good for you and this is apparent when it comes to our Smart phones. The people benefitting the most out of this situation are the companies themselves.
ReplyDeleteYour point on opportunities not being missed is shared, it seems like every 30 minutes I am checking my Smartphone for jobs, deals, contacts and ventures.
Lastly your point on when people whip out their mobile phone and start typing, I find this rude and disrespecting. It gives you the sense that, what they are doing is more important than the conversation in which you both were in the middle of.