Bose 1

Arun Bose
Professor Douglas
UWRT-1101-008
7, November 2016
Smartphones Cause Antisocial Behavior
The entire premise of a smartphone or a phone in general is to
help one communicate with other. However the great irony of the
smartphone, which was invented for the sole purpose of helping one
stay social, is that it actually causes most smartphone users to act
more antisocially. A study has been conducted that observed that as a
whole, technology and smartphones in particular, are actually causing
users to behave less socially in a public setting.
An open-ended observation was conducted at The Charlotte
University of North Carolina. The observer studied the behavior of the
people in a large public space without any prior subject matter in mind
and found that a majority of the observations recorded tended to be in
regards to the subjects using their smartphones with very little personto-person interaction. Even the subjects that were in groups with other
people tended to favor using their smartphone or laptop over
interacting with the people around them. The observation conducted
lasted exactly one hour. The observer made a total of fifty-one
observations, fifteen of which involved the subject of observation using
some for of technology and only ten of which involved one person

Bose 2
interacting with another. The observer was surprised by the use of
technology even by members of groups and pairs. The subjects use of
technology while alone was unsurprising however one would normally
expect those in groups to interact more with each other instead of their
cellphones and laptops.
In addition to an hour-long observation, an interview with a
member of the discourse group in question was conducted. This
particular member of the discourse group is a twenty seven year old
female that currently uses an iPhone six. The discourse group would be
extremely broad, encompassing anyone with a cell phone. The
interviewee was asked numerous questions in regards to their cell
phone usage. Some of the questions asked were, How much of your
day would you estimate that you spend on your cell phone? Would
you say that a cell phone is essential in todays society? Why or why
not? and, Do you think you could get by with your life relatively
unchanged if you were to downgrade to a basic phone? Why or why
not? Several other questions were asked in order to better understand
possible motivations for the observed prevalence in cell phone usage
over interpersonal interaction.
The subject of the interview made several statements that reflect
the emphasis on phones and technology within todays society. The
subject claimed to use her smartphone for approximately four hours
every day. When cellular phones were first being introduced to the

Bose 3
public, cell phones only had a battery life of approximately an hour and
were roughly the size of a thick laptop computer, which severely
limited the mobile factor of cell phones in their earlier stages
(DeMaria). One can speculate that advancements in portability and
battery life have allowed cell phone users to support and cultivate a
dependency to mobile phones and technology. The subject also claims
to use her phone primarily for social media. The subject using her
phone more so for social media and its additional functionality as
opposed for phone calls or other forms of interpersonal communication
is a prime example of how the smartphone has evolved from its
original, limited functionality and changed the way its users depend on
it. With the innovation of the cellphone leading to the current
smartphone, came new ways to interact with the mobile phone as
well as technology as a whole.
Since the invention of the original cellular phone in 1973, which
was nicknamed the shoe phone, due to its bulkiness, the cell phone
has progressed monumentally. The modern smartphone has features
that never could have been dreamed of during the mobile phones
original conception. However, these features have significantly added
to the cell phones allure, which at many times interferes with personto-person interaction. It is not at all uncommon to see both adults and
children alike completely engrossed in their cell phones entirely
ignoring one another. In a study done for the documentary, The

Bose 4
Mobile Revolution, it was found that the average teenager is on their
phone for approximately seven and a half hours per day (Java Films).
The cell phone was originally created to allow users to call and
be called by other while away from a landline phone; however, now the
cell phone has almost entirely replaced the landline phone. This
phenomenon is occurring not only in The United States, but globally as
well. As observed by Russian State Statistical Agency and Ministry of
Communications, in 2009 for the first time since the breakdown of the
Soviet Union, use of landline phones began to decline (Hader). In the
same study, it was observed in the Netherlands that for every one
hundred people, there were one hundred and twenty cell phones being
used for a total of twenty million mobile phones (Hader). Cell phone
usage all around the world has become commonplace and will only
continue to grow overtime.
Cell phones and smart phones in particular can often cause
extreme antisocial behavior. Modern smart phones have so many
different features and capabilities that they can completely engross
their user, which can lead to a lack of interpersonal interaction even in
social situations. Despite the entire purpose of a smartphone being to
help its user interact with the world around him or her, smartphones
are causing unsociable tendencies in todays culture.

Bose 5
Works Cited

Anthony N. DeMaria, The Tyranny of the Cell Phone, Journal of the

American College of Cardiology, Volume 59, Issue 25, 1926 June
2012, Pages 2388-2389, ISSN 0735-1097,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2012.05.002.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073510971201
6403)
Hader, Sabine, Michael Hader, and Mike Kuhne. Telephone Surveys in
Europe: Research and Practice. Berlin: Springer, 2012. Internet
resource.
The Mobile Revolution. Java Films, 10 June 2015. Web.