Cell phones: gift and a curse

The double edged sword

There are a few things students should look out for and try to avoid when walking to class: on-coming bikers, skaters, scooters and newest addition—distracted cell phone users.

It may be a difficult task to journey across campus without bumping into a few students who are looking down at their cell phones. According to a new report by Cisco published this week, which surveyed 1,400 students between the ages of 18 and 23 in 14 different countries, in a given hour more than four out of five college students are interrupted by digital media (i.e. instant messaging, social media updates and phone calls).

Speaking to the importance of social networking and the internet, 91 percent of students have Facebook accounts and 27 percent of them admitted that updating their Facebook statuses was more important than partying, dating or hanging out with friends.

55 percent said they “could not live without the internet”. 66 percent stated that their mobile devices were “the most important technology in their lives”.

With the evolution of social networking and the applicability of mobile devices being capable of instantly connecting to these social sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc.), it’s easy to see why so many students are attached to their phones. This begs the question: “is this a good or bad thing”?

“I think it’s a big problem if someone looks at their phone while in a conversation. It’s kind of irritating because it feels like they’re not engaged with me,” sophomore vocal music major David Pannell said.

The dynamic of upholding a social profile has perhaps created a paradox of sorts—while students are busy “socializing” online with others, they conceivably are missing out on the opportunity to share with their peers in real life. Especially at what is considered to be a commuter school in CSULB.

“It gets really annoying when my friends are texting and are not paying attention,” junior sociology major Kristin Schmalreid said.

CSULB personality psychology professor Dr. James Amirkhan has his own take on the topic.

“[I said essentially the same thing several years ago on the matter], without cell phones, students might get lonely enough to overcome their shyness and start forming connections with each other.”

“People used to smoke because it made them look a certain way and gave them something to do when their hands were nervous,” continued Dr. Amirkhan.

Students can often be spotted sitting throughout the campus with their gadgets in plain sight. In many cases seemingly detached from what’s going on around them.  Having certain mobile devices can and does assert status. Marketing and other factors could be linked to how people view phones and in turn how they view each other.

“Cell phones make you look ‘in the loop’, so people will use them wherever, whenever to impress,” said Dr. Amirkhan.

Where will the cell phone industry lead students next? Technology is ever advancing and companies are making it easier for people to utilize them. In the battle to “connect” everyone to anyone, are they in essence disconnecting people from each other in reality?

“I would think going forward we are going to become less social with each other and instead be drawn to our phones and their future functions and capabilities,” Pannell said.