The Rise Of Social Media And Smart Devices

Interpersonal communication
Alex Bigiu
Derby University
a.bigiu1@unimail.derby.ac.uk

Abstract.
The focus of this article is to address the wide range of research concerning the social
and behavioral impact of social media and networking worldwide and also the different
perspectives of its users.

Key words
Social media, Web 2.0, Lovegety, addiction, brainwash,

Introduction
How does social media change the way that information is passed across societies and around the world?
(Haenlin, 2015) defines social media as a group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and
the technological foundations of Web 2.0, and which allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.
The fact that social media have become such an essential part of our everyday lives is certainly impressive but
then again not that surprising. A brief look behind the curtains shows that the social media revolution, that
everybody is talking about these days, is, in its essence, nothing else than the internet going back to its roots
(A.M. Kaplan & M. Haenlein, Journal of Systems and Information Technology).
Benefits and drawbacks on the youth (and their mentality)
Teens continue to be devoted users of social networking websites as of September 2009, 73% of online
American teenagers aged 12 to 17 used an online social network website, a statistic that has continued to climb
upwards in the recent years (A. Lenhart, 2010). Parents views on social media is a very concerning one. As
watchdog Ofcom stated, none of the websites actively enforcing a minimum age limit so parents need to keep an
eye on what their children do online (BBC, 2008).
Technology has profoundly altered our modes of life. In fact, with the new technological frontier in its
beginning while it develops at a rapid pace, we have no time to neither evaluate the benefits of the past nor the
time to observe or contemplate the costs of developments when it comes to the stimulus on our childrens ability
to think (Taylor, 2012). There are also good impacts of the technology on the youth. For example the emergence
of reading pushed our brains to perform better and improve their focus and imagination, which means that
internet helps us to strengthen the ability to scan information rapidly and efficiently, (Carr, 2010). This could
also help us to develop new skills associated with problem-solving and decision making.
The two most important bad factors the social media has on us are brainwashing and addiction. Those factors
expose the younger people by spoiling quite vital information about them, and Social Media is being used by
extremists in the Middle East and elsewhere to search for and brainwash recruits from distance (Wadhwa, 2014).
From a business point of view, despite the substantial change that social media represent to organizational
communication processes and the dramatic global urge in social media usage, corporates still need to understand
what triggers the associated consumer behavior-based trends and dynamics in order to use that knowledge in
planning their strategic activities when using the media landscape as a launcher for their new products or
services (Kaplan, 2010). Therefore, businesses must research different scientific studies to understand how their
target market works and their trends. This can be defined as a challenge that most leaders face when looking out
on using social media interfaces. By highlighting the ways social media and smart phones contribute to our
lives, we might find better ways to manage their uses and decrease negative effects on our interactions with the
people around us. Based on some research, the world is still debating whether this internet addiction may be
classed as an actual disease, just like any other addiction disorders (Adler, 2013).
Impacts of social media and smart devices on peoples behaviors
Now, mobile phone subscriptions are in an uninterrupted augmentation, so how do these technologies change
peoples social relationships? Smart devices have been growing in popularity very quickly due to the new
technology features and every year we get to use our pockets for smarter and smarter devices that sometimes
succeed to exceed our expectations.
Most of the people who own a smartphone usually tend to use those devices to avoid contacting the people
around them. Therefore a few commercial projects in the late 1990s and early 2000s explored the way that
mobile devices could encourage people to use face-to-face interaction. An example of this could be the
technology made in Japan called Lovegety, with a demand of over 1 million, which was a stand-alone device
that people carried on which they could receive alerts when other Lovegety users were nearby and interested in
meeting up (Frith, 2015).
Thus, people can be influenced by different social connections, and by finding this information, I think I have
shown how people have been controlled by social media by more than 15 years ago, So, coming back to the
youth problems when it comes to their technology overuse, this can have a big impact on their emotional ability.
For example, kids who spend more than 4 hours playing video games or use social media do not have the sense
of wellbeing as those who used them for less than an hour (DeLoatch, 2015). Hence looking from parents
perspective this could be a very concerning element as it could affect their childs intellectual and people skills
instead of improving those by using more realistic methods. In another order of ideas social media is one of the
factors that interrupts our concentration several times per hour. For example, an office person would get

interrupted every 5 to 10 minutes by email notifications and so they might find it hard to get back on whatever
sort of work they were focusing before. Also, a man that sits at their office tends to scan their inbox at least 30
times per hour, which is a very big number in concordance to 10-15 years ago when not every organization was
communicating most of their information online and the fax was one of the main ways of communication (Carr,
The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains, 2010).
Now having ultra-smartphones in their pocket at all times, people tend to get distracted more often by the text
messages or notification from the different social media or applications that they have installed. This will bring
to a larger number of people just living in their own world unlike the one that surrounds them in reality.
Therefore they will end up talking with people that live miles away from them rather than those that are in the
same room or at the same table as those. And this could be linked with the effect that social media could have on
kids. For example a parent sitting at the table and checks their phones instead of having a conversation with
their children could affect the relationship between those. As an article written by the NBC News (Alexander,
2014), reveals that many kids are suffering from the fact that their parents are always distracted due to scrolling
their phones or tablets instead of forming a bond that can provide social information for the little ones.
The effects of the smartphones in our lives I could say that they are devastating due to the fact that they
control basically everything we do on a daily basis. They even define how much and when we spend our money.
They also have a big impact on how and where we go shopping and you could say that they make life easier
when shopping, because you can pay straight away by the so called process touch & go and then go check the
balance of their bank account straight away using the banking application (Kadlec, 2012).
Smart devices have been found to be very useful in the education as well, where people could do anything on
them, starting with using them for games for younger kids to revolutionize the textbook market. This is because
it is easier to carry around a single tablet rather than carrying a lot of heavy books (King, 2012)
Furthermore the mobile phones have a massive influence on students who are usually distracted all the time
during a lesson and usually lose track of what the teacher is learning them. This could lead to them getting bad
marks and even get excluded out of school. Using tablets and smart phones could enhance the educational
experience of the pupils however some teachers have complained about the fact that a growing number of
children still bring their own media devices to class with them and use them when dont teachers dont see them.
(Weale, 2015).
So teenagers should be banned from using mobile phones, at least the ones under the age of 14, because until
now the smartphones were being used in elite businesses, while now you get to see people of any age holding a
smartphones or any smart device in their hand using them as if they were just grown-ups or if they had to check
their emails like a businessman looking as if they actually depend on it and have to use it at all times. (Dickie,
2011).
Conclusions and recommendations
The more innovative humanity becomes technologically, the more people start to be controlled by computers
and other forms of technology (Belcher, 2014). In consequence the social media and the smart devices have one
of the biggest impacts on our lives. Even if its political, social or interpersonal, the social media seems to have
become one bad habit which could lead to serious consequences that can break connections with the people
around us, especially the close ones. I personally think technology could be a life savior and a great tool that can
brings us closer to our main goal: improve the best way we can the sharing of information.
Technology isnt just a tool that can be used in corporations, hospitals or peoples wellbeing, but I think it can
also be used as a weapon that can help those with bad intentions to control their target market, either through the
social media that is sometimes referred to as brainwashing tool, or relationship slayer. Furthermore you would
think disapproval of new technology means being old-fashioned, but its actually about being aware of the
important uses of the technology and how that can affect your life. In conclusion smartphones can ruin your life
rather than improve it.
With that being said I think this could be a lesson for everyone who thinks that the technology, social media
and smart devices altogether form a better bond than the one that people should have. In my opinion, no matter
what the studies find out, the parents should be a lot more concentrated and have a closely look at their kids.
After all we are still to find out what is the best ability of these gadgets and parents are still facing with the
newness and the unknowns of mobile phone technology just as their children are.

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