Too dependent on mobile applications

Neda Ghomeshi/Staff Writer

Our dependence on cell phone applications is taking over our lives. Most college students, including myself, have become so dependent on our mobile technology that we would not be able to function without it. Most mobile users want very practical applications to solve their current problems.

Because of their dependence, users are incapacitated without their mobile device. For most, functioning without it is impossible.

Cell phone applications enable you to stay connected at all times, but they also separate you from the real world. “It is frustrating when my friends are using their cell phone during dinner,” said Aram Devletian,  junior, economics. “I can’t even remember the last time I had a simple dinner with no cell phone interruptions.”

In addition to making phone calls, we use our cell phones for emails, news updates, bank statements, music, Youtube, pictures and videos. The variety of tasks a mobile device can accomplish is incredible.

Cell phones are practically attached to our hands. Most people can’t help but glance at their phone at least every hour. Usually, there’s nothing important going on, but most still feel compelled to  check. This constant desire to check your phone is a bad habit and takes away time from your day.

These days, thinking is secondary.  For example, most cell phone users compute the amount they should tip at a restaurant using their calculator application.

This is general math. There is no need for a calculator, but because cell phones are accessible at all times, the thought of computing the math is one’s head is outrageous.  An individual’s intelligence is diminishing because of the mobile applications available to them.

I do not understand the constant need to be on a cell phone. Honestly, a detachment from it is not going to harm anyone. The information that our cell phone provides will still be there beyond the hour. There is no need to constantly check for social updates.

A very popular mobile application is Facebook. According to Facebook’s Press Room, “There are more than 150 million users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile device. People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook as non-mobile users.”

These statements are pathetic and shameful. Facebook users should allocate their time spent on the site towards reading the news and keeping themselves informed of current affairs.

Facebook also released information in regard to the average time spent on its pages by a user. They said, “People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.”

Facebook users do not need to spend anywhere near that number of minutes on the site. The activities that are being conducted on Facebook are a waste of time.

Nothing substantial is being learned.  People are just learning tedious things about other people’s lives.

Cell phones are essential in our lives. They are way too easy to use and their convenience is phenomenal. Our growing dependence is causing a drift between real communication and cellular communication.