Generation Y Addiction

Do you feel uneasy without your phone? Do you feel uncomfortable when your phone is no longer in network? Do you check your phone to see if it’s vibrating when it’s not? Does it bother you to turn your phone off or on silent?

If you answer yes to the above questions then you may be suffering from Nomophobia- the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term is an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone-phobia.” It’s the plague of the 24/7 online Y-Generation. Your usual stresses such as getting married, going to the dentist, or searching for a job is no longer a source of stress, instead, being out of reach of your phone is. This generation of people are living in fear of being out of mobile contact. They have been so dependent on their mobile, that discovering that it is dying or misplaced sends stress levels soaring. Due to the rise of cellphone usage, psychological disorders have come up amongst the younger generation. It’s even said that students are losing their hearing or hearing false rings due to the high cellphone usage.

I know for one of my classes, my professor suggest that we turn our phone off or switch to silent mode. Honestly, the silent mode makes people uncomfortable NOT knowing if they are receiving a phone call, text message, or e-mail. Even if a ring were to go off, students would look at their phone to see if it was their phone receiving the incoming notification. Is it addiction that has this generation on edge? How long can you go without checking your phone?

Check this interesting chart out:

Not using your phone is one thing but imagine losing your phone! Just the thought of it drives me crazy, how about you? I know when my close friend lost her phone she simply stated, “Oh my god, I lost everything, my phone is my life”. Now that statement is so sad yet so true nowadays.  That’s the moment you realize how big of a role your phone plays in your life. Without it, you feel so removed from the world. With it, you feel so connected.

But, to avoid feeling that void in your life, you might want to walk around with your charger handy. If you were to ask any FDU student if they're carrying their charger, I bet it’s a high chance they’d say yes! This might even be a great question for the survey I plan to conduct later in the semester. Anywho, having a low battery can also be a shocking experience for some. I know some of my friends may post on Facebook or Twitter from their laptop or tablet, “Don’t worry if I don’t answer, my phone is dead/off”.  This is to notify friends to not get tense over the not so immediate response.

I think it’s safe to say that our dependency on technology has more downfalls than advantages. The Y-Generation uses their phones to remember loved ones phone numbers rather than memorizing it as the old days. They even forget about birthdays and anniversaries because they depend on their phone to remind them. Back then, people genuinely remembered numbers and special dates.

A Life Without A Cellphone

A life without a cellphone. Imagine that? I bet you can’t even begin to imagine life without it. But think about a time before cellphones. How did people survive? There was a time only doctors and drug dealers used cell phones until just about 1995. Then an outbreak occurred in which everyone had a cellphone. Simply because it’s convenient! You can call anyone in your phonebook at any given moment. But whose convenience is that, yours or theirs? The contacts stored in your phone can call you at any moment knowingly, wherever you are, you will pick up and if not they had a presence in your day.

Before the cellphone age, people use to stand around each other and actually engage in intellectual conversations! *GASP* People actually interacted several years ago. If you were to take a trip to a nearby restaurant and take a look around the waiting area, you are guaranteed to see everyone facedown staring into their phone. You would most likely be the ONLY one looking around and not looking at a phone. Cellphones continues to remain a craze among the human race. It’s scary!

But, staring at your phone isn’t the only possible way to wait for table, a friend, appointment, or whatever the case may be. Listen up! There are other things out there to do besides starting at your crotch and into your phone. Here is a list of things you can possibly do instead:

(They may sound challenging but give a try)

• Make eye contact- honestly, it’s not that hard. People do this all the time. You may have the opportunity to share a moment with an attractive stranger, you never know. You want to wait until the person looks away from the phone for a few seconds to actually lock eyes. After this is done, just simply smile! If you master this you may want to put it on your resume under skills.

• Talk about the weather- this is a classic introductory and conversation starters. You may want to open it up with a simply, “This is some rain, don’t you think?”, or “They say it’s supposed to snow all week long!” Now this may be a little harder than the first because you have to catch someone else who ISNT staring at their crotch. I know, I know. BUT- it’s not impossible. I still have faith in humanity.

• Be observant of your surroundings-now, if you take some time away from your phone and take time to look around you may find some interesting things. It’s important to live in the moment. You may miss all the amazing things that are happening around you.  A cowboy dancing for change, an older man doing cartwheels, a dog wearing a tutu, you just never know. Then once you resume to your phone, your observations can make excellent tweets or statuses on Facebook!

• Or, see what other people are looking at on their phones- take this time to simply examine why others are glued to their phones. You may want to look over your shoulder and see what your neighbor is looking at. You may come across some interesting things. Shiny gold case with an incoming call from “IGNORE”. A blackberry with 100 unread e-mails. A HTC, reading NY Times, “Church helps fill a void in Africa.” This exercise can be quite fascinating and endless.

• Last, but no least, you can read a book- rather than risking the chance to get cancer or carpal tunnel. You can pick up a book and turn the pages of a good oh story. But you might just be staring into your nook or kindle instead.

The preceding items are useful and free things to do when you're not using your phone. But, hey you may be reading this post from your phone who knows.