Slave to the Machine

1128 Words3 Pages

It is apparent that cellphones and social media are rapidly changing our society. Humans naturally are accustomed to change we long for it and are constantly evolving. However, how much of this change is too much? Cellphones and social medias are altering our societies interpersonal face-to-face communications, cultural values, as well as our social norms. Our world is becoming more connected; we are entering an era of digital globalization. It is hard to imagine a time before communication advancements, where people traveled thousands of miles to exchange messages and or spend time with one another. This isn’t the case in the 21st century people can now remain within contact with one another through cellphones and social media in the matter of seconds. In Monica Glomb’s doctoral dissertation Social Media use and Inter-personal Relationships she states, “As of December 2012, 87% of American adults have a cellphone and 45% have a smartphone.”(Page 21) There are no longer boundaries preventing people from contacting one another with ease. In addition, “It is seen that 50% of smartphone owners use a social networking site every day.” (Page 22) People are now able to keep up with old friends, as well as stay connected with present ones, and meet new people with little to no effort at all. Given these points, here is the problem “On average, a smartphone owner checks the phone every 6.5 minutes, which averages out to 150 times a day” (Glomb 22). Not to mention, “It was apparent that the greatest number of users indicated a frequency of 3-5 times a day and spent less than 15 minutes. In conclusion, subjects are using the social media studied more frequently, with less time spent per session” (Glomb 58). Cellphones and social media h... ... middle of paper ... .... He was looking to falsify previously established theories on macro-social model. Glotz proved this in four principles: “By increasing the pervasiveness of primary, particularistic social bonds, by reducing the need for time-based scheduling and coordination, by undermining institutional boundary controls and replacing location-based with person-based communicative systems, by providing support for anachronistic pervasive roles” (Glotz) I compliment these statements by increasing the pervasiveness of primary social bonds due to cellphone use and social media they are strengthening the ties between already established relationships rather than encouraging the opening up of new ones. People are using social media and cellphones as a tool to shield themselves from what is already know rather than strengthening their abilities to venture into uncharted relationships.

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