Nomophobia
literally means a fear of being without your smartphone.
I
personally do not own a smartphone nor do I ever plan to, as I dislike their
poor battery life and the fact that they can be used to track you as pointed
out in my blog
article entitled “The
Reason why I don't like Smartphones - Location Privacy and How to disable
Location Services on Android and iOS”.
Worse, some of the smartphone Apps can be used by the NSA (National Security Agency) to spy on you as explained in my blog article entitled “NSA and Five Eyes Alliance in Project Irritant Horn Spying on Arab Spring Jihadists”.
But
those around me that do, especially when I am on the campus of the MICO College University, do not seem to
be any smarter because they have one.
For
those of you that follow my checkered writing history on the Geezam blog, you might recall an article I
did about Online Student Assistance website StudyBlue claiming that smartphone
usage made College Students smarter as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “StudyBlue
reveals Smartphones, Tablets make you smarter – The Big Bang Theory on Google”.
However,
that is College Students; based on my personal observations, it has the reverse
effect on High School and Primary school students, as they seem more distracted
by their smartphones.
Smartphones and High
School Students – FOMO distraction from learning in High School
This
as they do not use their smartphones for Googleing information, but mainly for hanging
out on Social Media Websites, That 70’s Show Style as per the analysis in my Geezam blog article entitled “American
Middle-Income Millennial Minorities love Mobile Internet”.
Then
again, I don't blame them; most smartphone screens are small and doing a Google
search on an Android browser is difficult on such a tiny, cramped Screen. Also,
most of the website found is not optimized for the smaller screen size.
This
forced Google to take action and penalize websites that are not optimized for
smartphone and Tablet form factors as noted in my blog article
entitled “@Google
wants smartphone-friendly Websites - Pricier Sponsored Search Results Prices
for Small Business's Shopaholics”.
But
can this obsessive usage of smartphones to access Social Media websites, mainly
to avoid the FOMO as explained in my blog article
entitled “@Facebook
vs Mobile Social Networks - @globalwebindex says Mobile Social Networks are for
Private Groups of Friends be likened to
an addition”?
Also,
with wearables now the latest craze being snapped up by Americans and Jamaicans
obsessed with staying fit as noted in my Geezam
blog article entitled “Analyst
IDC logs Wearables Profitable in Q1 2015 Fitness Tracker Business” the
question begs; are we becoming a society addicted to our wearables as well?
How to deal with
Smartphone Addiction – Trend towards Wearables indicates Smartphone Addiction
getting worse
In
some ways it can, if the Infographic from the website Top
Counselling Schools can be believed, the signs of Smartphone addiction are
all around us:
1.
Constant usage, even in social
situations
2.
Euphoric feeling when text, email or
call comes in
3.
Feeling guilty about phone usage
4.
Panic when phone is misplaced
5.
Physical discomfort, like wrist or neck
pain
6.
Trouble in school or at work
7.
Using phone right before sleep and right
after waking
So
how exactly does it feel for someone addicted to their smartphone when they
can't locate their Precious, Lord of the Rings Style? Based on the survey done
by Top
Counselling Schools, this is what they’re going through:
1.
73% feel panicked
2.
14% feel desperate
3.
7% feel sick
4.
6% feel relieved
I
can believe this to be true, based on my observation of my female counterparts
at the MICO College University. But
the Top
Counselling Schools revealed some more disturbing trends about American
adults between the ages of 18-34 and their unhealthy relationship with their
smartphones that may also ring true for Jamaicans:
1.
20% or 1 in 5 adults use their
smartphone during sex
2.
72% stay within 5" of the
smartphones at all times
3.
50% of Professional workers check their
smartphones continuously during vacation
This
seems set to get worse. According to the stats on the Top
Counselling Schools infographic on smartphone spread for US Adults between
the ages of 18-34:
1.
6 in 10 U.S. adults own a smartphone
2.
220 million Americans will own a
smartphone by 2018
3.
2 billion global smartphone users by
2016
These
stats seems spot on when compared to the stats for the performance of Google
Android and their various Google Products as revealed by the keynote speakers at Google I/O
2015 as explained in my blog article
entitled “Google
IO Statistics - A Future Past of Growing Strong for All of Android's Children
and a Future with Google ATAP Projects”.
How to unplug from your
Precious – Wearables yet another reason not to be 5 feet from your smartphone
So
what can you do if you're addicted to your smartphone? Again, Top
Counselling Schools seems to have some fairly good suggestions:
1.
Be aware of what triggers you to grab
your phone
2.
See a counselor at technology-addiction
facility
3.
Talk more to people
4.
Once a month, go Commando without your
smartphone for an entire day or weekend
5.
Place your phone in the next room while
you sleep
6.
Set rules about when, where, how and why
you use your smartphone
7.
Turn off your ringer and set it to
vibrate
8.
Unplug for 30 minutes
I
personally would recommend just tying it to a brick and throwing it over the
Milk River Bridge here in Clarendon.
Then
again, with Wearable devices such as
US$13 Mi Band Fitness Monitor from smartphone maker Xiaomi set to become
popular in the Caribbean as predicted in my blog article
entitled “IDC
Stats for Wearables in the First Quarter of 2015 - US$13 Mi Band Fitness Monitor
Xiaomi No. 2 as Apple Watch to dominate Smartwatch segment by Q4 2015”,
Jamaicans, like our healthy-lifestyle obsessed Americans counterparts may have
YET ANOTHER excuse as to why they cannot be more than five feet away from their
precious.
Here’s
the link:
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