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I am an unwavering supporter of technological growth within our society, which is fairly easy to gather by reading some of my previous posts. While I acknowledge that there are downsides to technology, I will argue that the pros greatly outweigh the cons. Despite this being the case, it is clear to me that technology has had a noticeably negative effect on our ability to communicate, and in consideration of the bigger picture, the effect on our mental health is both equally concerning, and potentially correlative.
I purchased my first cell phone in 2002, shortly after graduating boot camp. Cell phones were different then, and couldn’t do much more than make calls and send text messages. We would often get together in the smoke pit, with people playing hacky sack or frisbee, or perhaps listening to another sailor play guitar. In essence, we were socializing. While I haven’t smoked in several years, what I do see in most social settings these days is people staring at the screens of their phone instead of being social. Submarine sailors are not allowed to have their cell phones onboard, so their devices are stored in a designated container on the pier. Sailors who smoke will typically go topside every couple of hours to enjoy a cigarette, but I have noticed a new trend in the past few years of sailors who don’t smoke who will go topside just to stare at their phones for a few minutes in between assignments. The smoke pit is no longer full of conversation, joke telling, and laughter, just the occasional sailor showing a funny video or meme to his friend.
When cell phone technology first became popular, it was touted as the ultimate communication tool. You could easily stay in contact with family, be easily reached even when not at home, and you could even use text messaging to send a very brief message without all the hassle of an entire phone call. As the technology progressed, many more options for communicating in different ways became available, such as group texting, emojis, sending a picture that you just took with your phone’s camera, and, of course, memes. Social media making its way to our handheld devices is what really sealed the deal, giving people the ability to either quietly admire, or to be admired by many. These newfound communication abilities have bred a myriad of issues amongst its users, to include sleep issues, depression, addiction, anxiety, isolation, and fear of missing out (Anboucarassy, et.al., 2014).
If the new technology begets mental health issues, it makes sense that the mental health issues beget the decline in face-to-face communication and social skills. This is apparent in day-to-day life, and the pandemic has done nothing to help the situation, with people self-isolating in order to remain safe. Most people feel that face-to-face communication suffers both in quality and quantity when cell phones or other devices are present (Drago, 2015). Hopefully this is something that is not only recognized but also being combated by both the social media and cell phone corporations, but also our nation’s leaders. If this issue continues to worsen, which at this point is likely, it will require changes within the design departments of social media companies and also with legislation to alleviate this concern.
References
Anboucarassy, B., & Begum, M. (2014). Effect of Use of Mobile Phone on Mental Health of Higher Secondary School Students. Journal on Educational Psychology, 8(2), 15–19.
Drago, E. (2015). The Effect of Technology on Face-to-Face Communication. The Journal of Undergraduate Research, 6.
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