The smartphone identity
by Neta Dekel
Are we losing our minds or are we losing our identities? It seems that smartphones, gain control over our lives.
More than 90% have smartphones. Kids receive their first smartphone around the age of six when they enter first grade.
The use of smartphones is increasing rapidly all over the world. The average use of smartphones per person is over 7 hours a day and the majority of the hours are spent on social media and messaging apps. Research shows that over 40% of people check their smartphones first thing in the morning, even before getting out of bed or brushing their teeth... Of course, it is much more extreme at young ages.
Sure, technology makes our life easier, and smartphones have many benefits. Communication with other people is immediate and fast, in all forms of media: E-mail, messaging, video calls and of course, voice conversations. It seems that we do everything with it: We navigate with it, pay for goods with it, hear music with it, buy and sell with it, check into flights with it and much more.
But do smartphones cause any harm?
Research by Hadar and Tsangan (1), shows a strong connection between the intensive use of smartphones and impaired attention, reduced ability to process numerical information and increased social anxiety. However, no memory impairment was recorded.
This research joins other recently published studies that link exposure to screens before bedtime with impaired sleep quality. A recent study conducted in Israel examined the effect of exposure to screens before bedtime on sleep quality and function in the morning after bedtime. The study shows that exposure to artificial light emitted from screens before bedtime negatively affects sleep continuity and quality, as well as attention and concentration in the morning.
A 2015 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, which included 166 subjects, found that when people's phones beep or buzz when they're in the middle of a challenging task, their focus is undermined, and their work becomes more careless — whether they're checking the phone or not. Another study from the same year, which encompassed 41 iPhone users and appeared in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, showed that when people hear their phones ring but cannot answer
the ringtone, their blood pressure jumps, their pulse is felt, and their problem-solving skills decrease.
Even sex life is compromised. Studies show a decrease in sex quality and frequency since 2008. In general, the young generation stopped meeting potential spouses in physical places (parties, bars, schools) and prefers dating apps.
The first iPhone was introduced in January 2007 and started being sold in the US in June 2007. Clearly, you see the connection. This is an addiction! It is a pandemic!
The above-mentioned research is clear and, in my opinion, we are losing our identities to smartphones. We constantly use it everywhere. We avoid social interactions. Furthermore, it seems that in more and more cases, eye contact with a stranger on the street is perceived as rude, invading the personal space, and sometimes, even, considered to be harassment.
More and more of our interactions are based on social media (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and messaging apps like WhatsApp). In those apps, other members see only the image that we decided to reveal. It is not the real identity as shown in face-to-face interaction but limited, synthetic and false identity: People show their "Smartphone Identity"
People are hiding behind smartphones and my images show that the face is no longer important, or exposed. We see the back of the phone, the hands and the surrounding.
All the people shown in the photographs agreed to participate in the project.
As part of my working process, I engaged in short conversations with the people i took pictured of and I explained the purpose of the photo. Most of the people agreed with my point of view. Some of them were surprised and reacted as I caught them in bad behavior.
Disclaimer:
This article is my uneducated opinion only. The numeric data in the article was found online on various sites and online published academic research papers from previous years and is not necessarily up to date.
I am not responsible for the accuracy of the data or for any misuse of it.
Resources
(1) Research by Dr. Aviad Hadar and Prof. Avraham Tsangan from BGU, Israel.
When I read this little project by Neta, I thought that luckily someone is aware of the damages of digital society.
I've fought for years against television, video games, and the first internet fed to children when I wrote for kids.
We are creating a society of beings who no longer know how to distinguish the real from the imaginary, who no longer know how to formulate thoughts, and who cannot use language. But they know how to fiddle around with their iPad, computer, smartphone… They no longer possess emotional intelligence.
We talk about empathy, but nothing is done for a child to feel it. Of course it is the fault of the parental generation.
Batsceba Hardy