Nomophobia News Article

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/06/tech/mobile/nomophobia-mobile-addiction/

In Vicky Kung’s article “Rise of ‘nomophobia’: more people fear loss of mobile contact” she discusses nomophobia, the fear of not having a mobile phone. The article explains the increasing problem as it effects the younger generation especially. The article claims that younger people are unable to entertain themselves, and cannot handle being left bored or alone with their own thoughts. Nomophobics will often put their life on hold, when their phone is lost. Nomophobics crave constant contact with friends through texting and social media, and often use their phones more than 3 hours a day.  The ever increasing abilities and functions of today’s mobile devices have made this a world-wide issue, with people of all ages and genders being victims.

This article was published in 2012, and the problem has only gotten worse since then. I personally can see a nomophobia’s prevalence in my generation, and even worse in younger generations. It seems like people are scared to be alone. This is ironic though in my opinion, because these mobile devices and applications are only providing the illusion of human contact. People may feel more secure and connected, when in reality they are becoming less social. When people scroll through Instagram, twitter, and Facebook, they see posts and comments of friends, and they feel a false sense of connection with them just by reading or liking their post. When in reality, they have not talked or seen this person in a very long time. Rather than pick up the phone and call, or go hang out with them in person, they feel as though they are connected through these online social mediums. In reality, this is detrimental because people are becoming less social, while also becoming less able to deal with loneliness. The fear of being away from your phone and the comfort it brings, specifically through social media, is a growing problem. I think that if you aren’t able to delete or inactivate your social media, or go without your phone for a few hours, you have a problem and should definitely work on using them less. I think some time spent in the real world with real people would be highly beneficial to nomophobics.