Have you ever noticed a couple sitting next to each other, but both individuals are looking at their phones? Or moments at the dinner table, where everyone is glued at their phones? Researchers reported that many people tend to constantly use their smartphone and lose sight of their everyday life. There is an irony here; while trying to be social via smartphones, using the device pushes away the surrounding social environment. People prefer smartphone communication because face-to-face interactions demand more confidence and effort. Smartphones are personified from their design to their consumption, leading users to a heavy use and dependency on the technology.
Smartphone users personalize their devices. Dr. Wang, at the University of Oregon, found that a lot of people who consider their smartphones as their best friends. Most Androids and iPhones can recognize the user’s location and his/her actions. Some smartphones mimic human behavior. Thus, users anthropomorphize their phones by attributing them human behaviors. Besides, people personalize their device by changing their phone’s name, ring tone, lock screen and wallpaper. Not to mention, some applications can determine the psychological condition of the user based on the facial and vocal expression screening. Bitmoji on Snapchat is an example. Bitmoji creates a personal emoji that resembles our real human face. Users can put Bitmojis in messaging apps to express their facial expressions, such as joy and disappointment. Dr Wang’s studies show that loneliness is the main cause of people’s tendency to anthropomorphize their smartphones. As smartphones are taken as social actors rather than just tools, lonely people have a greater tendency to anthropomorphize.
Having all the accessories in hand, why would someone make the effort to go out and get coffee with friends? In the movie Her by Jonze, Theodore, a young man, falls in love with a computer, designed with an artificial intelligence and a female voice, called Samantha. They tightly bonded and Theodore panics when Samantha goes offline briefly. Theodore divorced his wife because he couldn’t deal with her emotions. He had difficulties engaging with women outside of a fantasy world in which he could control everything, which is the kind of relationship he had with Samantha. All this to say that Samantha could be the next Siri in Apple. In fact, in 2014, a boy claimed Siri as his “best-friend forever”. Digital communications trouble real-life relationships because users are too attached to their devices. “Phubbing” is when people favor their phone instead of the social surrounding.
In a recent article published in 2017, Delitt says that real-life interactions are “affected by the urge to check your phone which makes the other person feel less important.” Face-to-face interaction will lose their values because those on the other side of the phone will soon be perceived more important. A study by Wagner, published in the Journal of Individual Psychology, shows that people who felt that their partners were overly dependent on their devices were less satisfied with their relationship. How many of your best moments in your life have you captured in your smartphones, while missing out the moment? What activities do you do besides social media? If your phone is there, you are most likely going to look at it. Do not get me wrong, cutting off complete use of smartphone is impractical. But, give your phone a home besides your hands, and try to enjoy the beauty of real-life interactions.
