Whether you’re walking through the tunnels at school, riding the bus, or at a party, you will always see people on their phones—taking pictures, tweeting, checking their Facebook or Instagram, or taking Snapchats.
These new forms of virtual communication are a great thing. They allow us to share stuff fast whether it is a selfie, a text, or just a random thought. However, as social networking becomes more accessible and faster to use and smartphones get smarter, the choices we make using social media seem to get dumber.
International Data Corporation (IDC), a global provider of market intelligence, did a study in 2013 about smartphones and social networking, particularly with regards to youth.
In the age category 18-44 years, IDC found that a shocking—or maybe not so shocking—79 per cent of people have their phone on or near them for all but up to two hours of their waking day.
Sixty-nine per cent of people reach for their phone right after they wake up in the morning, and 25 per cent can’t even remember the last time their phone wasn’t next to them.
It seems the more we are on our phones, the more thoughtless we are when using that means of communication. I am seeing more frequently on the news instances of teenagers posting something on social media they really should have thought twice about.
In October 2013, Malik Whiter took a selfie with a teacher who was having contractions and posted it to Twitter.
More recently, in February 2014, a student in Alabama took a selfie with a cadaver while on a trip to a university’s biology department.
And just a few weeks ago, a Miami teenager’s seemingly innocent brag on Facebook may cost her dad $80,000 because he had signed a confidentiality agreement that his daughter has now breached.
It seems we will do anything these days for a glimpse of momentary social networking recognition. We want our 15 minutes of fame, and we want it bad.
The desire to gain more ‘likes’ or ‘favourites’ is overshadowing common sense, which is simultaneously becoming more uncommon.
Kids aren’t realizing that the choices they make before hitting “post” can affect their future in much graver ways than they think. It’s time we step back from our phones for a moment and really think about the potential consequences something we post may have.
