Cell Phones: A Social Analysis

In this experiment, I wanted to keep track of my phone usage and how that affected my daily tasks and the social implications around cell phones. To do this, I recorded my phone usage and gradually decreased it, from half to zero, and tracked the amount I was using it, my most used apps, and my thoughts and experiences while conducting this experiment. This experiment was conducted over three weeks, with the first week being the control to record how many hours I regularly used my phone, as well as which apps were most used. During the second week, I attempted to cut the average amount of my phone use in half. Lastly, the third week was to test if I could successfully eliminate the use of my phone. I chose to do this experiment because I …show more content…
For example, one norm would be that while it is appropriate to take a phone call outside the classroom, it would break a social norm to answer a phone call in the middle of a lecture. Additionally, from my own experience this weekend, I found that there were many things that I couldn’t normally do without my phone. It was more difficult to check my bank account, send emails, or find directions to unknown places without the use of my cell phone. These are things that not only would I normally do, but also things that were expected of me to be able to do since I have typically have access to my …show more content…
I noticed during this experiment that my friends expected me to message back within seconds like I normally would, however, by refraining from using my phone for this experiment, my replies were much slower and infrequent than they would usually be. As a society and a generation that largely has access to smartphones and the ability to message from anywhere at any time, there are social expectations that have evolved for technology in our society. One theoretical lens that is applicable to my experiences throughout this experiment is the Symbolic Interactionism Theory. Cell phones have shaped our society and their significance has heavily impacted our day to day lives. They affect how we communicate with each other and how we interact with the people and environment around us. Cell phones also connect us with the rest of the world, giving us the capability to have access to events that happen across the