Introduction:
This paper will explore how the mobile phenomenon has changed the social lives of teenagers. This is a fairly scarce subject where not particular books have been written. Teens have a large amount of different social impacts in regards to the use and ownership of a mobile phone. These include the effect a mobile phone has on the person, it is often down regarded as a fashion accessory, the need to have the most up to date phones, the safety aspects of having a mobile phone, then monetary impact of mobile phones and the way mobile phones have affected the sleep patterns and stress levels of teenagers, also included will be the impact of which parents let teenagers out later, then they otherwise would if they didn’t have a mobile phone. Teenagers have also affected the sales of mobile phones, which is covered near the end of this paper. The English language may appear to have perished due to mobile phones but this is as found not often the case.
What has been the impact of the mobile phone on the social lives of teenagers?
The social life of teenagers could change if they were without a mobile phone, as using a mobile phone has become a social phenomenon. This would most likely be due to less contact they would have with their friends. A study by Harris Interactive 2008 confirms this by their survey in the US “Nearly half (47%) of US teens say their social life would end or be worsened without their cell phone”. On the other hand a survey was carried out by Iome 2009 , which is an events based Company, they found that only 12% of people would find losing their phone would be a positive experience, they felt they would be less distracted and feel free , as they could control when they are contacted much easier. It is also believed that part of the worsening of the social life of a teenager without a mobile phone would include the fact the mobile phone is a fashion accessory, or much on a necessity. Harris Interactive 2008 believes that teenagers feel there mobile phone signifies a fashion status and also affects their popularity within a group of teenagers. It is often the 2nd most important thing to have besides clothing , the study by Harris Interactive 2008 also confirms this within its survey “Second only to clothing, teens say, a person’s cell phone tells the most about their social status or popularity, outranking jewelry, watches and shoes”. It is also apparent that teenagers think texting offers huge advantages , it offers them a way to avoid verbal communication and allows them to multitask, whilst writing a text message can be a very quick process , they also feel that communicating via text messages is more fun. This was confirmed by a study by Harris Interactive 2008 ,”Teens say texting has critical advantages because it offers more options, including multitasking, speed, the option to avoid verbal communication, and because it is fun - in that order”. Teenagers have created a new form of communication among its peers we call this texting, teenagers prefer to text friends and family rather than ring them. This would often allow them to multi task, when in the area where privacy is a must as texting has become very useful in this area. These views are also research upon by Joseph Porus from Harris Interactive 2008 he said that “Teens have created a new form of communication. We call it texting, but in essence it is a reflection of how teens want to communicate to match their lifestyles. It is all about multitasking, speed, privacy and control,” .Teenagers appear to be getting addicted to mobile phones, teenagers are generally under huge pressure to be able to be contacted by friends around the clock, and this is becoming very common. Although this is not common to all teenagers but a vast majority said Dr Gaby Badre from Sahigrns Acadnemy 2008 in Gothburg said “Addiction to phones is becoming common. Youngsters feel pressure to be interconnected and reachable around the clock “. This is partially true although teenagers would always have the option to turn their mobile phone off if they did not wish to be contacted.
According to Iome 2009, a low percentage of people feel it would be a positive experience to lose their mobile phone“12 per cent of people would actually find losing their mobile a positive experience, claiming they would ‘feel free’, be ‘less distracted’ and ‘lead a richer life’ ”. Without a mobile phone teenagers would likely lead a richer life style due to the costs of having a mobile phone. There has been a discussion that mobile phones are often responsible for most of a teenager’s disposable income. This is spent on either upgrading phones or simply the use of credit or a contract phone. Rich ling 2004 said “No discussion of mobile telephony among adolescents would be complete without an examination of its economic aspects. Indeed, it is among teens that the largest portion of disposable income goes to the use of mobile telephones. “
Ling 2004 thinks that parents have allowed teenagers to pay for their own mobile phone bills to try and get them to respect money and economize for their own personal economy. This also links to why teenagers send texts more than phone calls, at current rates it is far cheaper to send a text message then it is to phone someone. There are many deals about at the moment so teenagers are able to get unlimited texts for a small amount of money. The use of mobile phones by teens as greatly affected the sales figures of mobile phones ,new technology which is appealing to teenagers, exponentially effects the impact on sales of mobile phones carter.2008 said “when you combine this new technology with teens giving their permission to market to them, the growth could be exponential. Meaning teens have a huge impact on the sales of mobile phones”.
The mobile telephone is often used as an objective lesson by parents with regards to how to manage a personal economy, said King 2004 “teens are forced to economize in their use of the mobile phone, something that in itself is a motivation for the use of text messages, since they are generally cheaper than voice calls.”. Teenagers with regards to mobile costs, due to them having part time jobs they are able to have a larger income then those without. These people often have the latest mobile phone technology or have better deals with regards to phone calls and texting prices. They are earning more money yet they don’t have so many financial commitments as their parents may have. The teenagers seem to use mobile phones and their bills as their main way to dispose of their income. This has become apparent due to the way teenagers effect the mobile phone sales, which over last few years has become a global phenomenon, which could be due to the sheer amount of teenagers that now own a mobile phone, ‘Carter.2008’ said when you combine this new technology with teens giving their permission to market to them, the growth could be exponential. Meaning teens have a huge impact on the sales of mobile phones.
It is believed that mobile phone texting is starting to destroy the English language, this is caused by the use of slang words being used in text messages and the way this has affected teenagers ability to write according to proper English , which would need to be applied when writing essays and general writing such as formal letters, teens have developed a new ’texter’ language of which words such as ‘lol’ laugh out loud and ‘wubu2’ what you been up to has been added , these are only a couple of many hundreds of slag words used whilst composing a text message. . Although generally the English Language is deteriorating via the over use of mobile phone texting. This has a possibility of getting worse if mobile phone usage were to increase further more in the future this would also change with the increase of multitasking needed for a teenager’s hectic lifestyle, meaning more text messages are send to be able to communicate with the person quickly and efficiently. On the other hand a Kemp 2008 believes the English Language isn’t being affected by the use of mobile phones, and people that text actually have better reading, writing and grammar skills to those who don’t. Kemp 2008 said “Mobile phone texting isn't destroying the English language and proficient ‘texters’ are usually better at reading and using traditional spelling and grammar” Also teenagers that use their mobile phone lots t generally suffer from stress and sleep related problems from the over use of mobile phones. Teenagers that used mobile phones to make more than 15 calls and 15 messages a day were reported to suffer from stress and sleep related problems .This is known from research carried out by Sleep 2008.“Frequent use of mobile phone may leave teenagers suffering from stress and sleep problems”.
Conclusion:
Findings showed that there is a fairly large variety of different social impacts of mobile phones on teenagers. These results showed that teenagers will dispose of most of their income on being able to have the most up-to-date phone, these phones are often acquired though contracts. Teenagers will most likely spend the other high amount of income on credit or the month contract cost, parents also seem to allow teenagers to pay their own phone bills. Teenagers also see the mobile phone as a key fashion accessory, although other then clothing this is the most important thing for a teenager to have. Mobile phones do have a key impact on a teens stress and sleep pattern. It is also now known that teenagers do have a significant impact on the sales of mobile phone. The language factor of mobile phones is believed to have both impacted teenagers writing ablates but it has also shown to improve, this is likely to change from person to person, and no high end studies have been done to fully prove this theory. In short if teenagers were to move away from mobile phones the mobile phone industry would plummet and the teenager’s lives would change.
