Nomophobia (no-mobilephone-phobia) is the fear of being disconnected from media technology such as mobile phones (Elmore, 2017). We live in a time where cell phones are not waterproof and water resistant. We anticipate communication on them more than we anticipate face-to-face conversation. According to Elmore (2017), in the United States 65% of individuals sleep with/next to their phone, around half of people never turn off their cell phones, and 66% of adults suffer from nomophobia ().
Although we spend so much of our time online, around 5% of people say they have met their significant other online although 15% of people use an online dating website or application (Emery, n.d.).
Communicating online is a great way for people with disorders to make friends. For people like me, having anxiety and being around others can be a death sentence. Having the ability to display my interests online on websites such as Facebook, I can allow myself to make friendships with people who value who I am as a human being. I met my husband on social media five years ago and we have been married for four years.
However, it is slightly unsettling to live in a world where people are used to instant gratification. Because of this, social skills are not developing to their full potential. They control what they can do on their phones, but not what happens in real life. They lose their sense of comfort.
How concerned should we be that technology is consuming our lives? As a 90s baby, I got to experience the transition into more efficient technology. I remember the dial-up internet on my giant computer when I was thirteen years old to my blue screen’d Kyocera at age fifteen. My children are three and four and can maneuver any tablet or cell phone they get their hands on with ease.
How many hours do you spend on social media? How many hours do you spend online?
How many friendships do you have right now that are maintained in person?
Are we taking face to face communication for granted?
References
Elmore, T. (2017). Nomophobia: a rising trend in students. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/artificial-maturity/201409/nomophobia-rising-trend-in-students
Emery, L. A. (n.d.). This is how many couples meet online vs. offline. Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/articles/145766-this-is-how-many-couples-meet-online-vs-offline
Evening,
Interesting post, I’ve never heard of this even with all the anti-social media ranting that takes place now. Honestly, first reading the title, I thought it was a play on words “No mo phone bia”, but then I read further. I do think that the epidemic of attachments to cellphones is disruptive to actual social connections and human interactions. Though it may create ease for individuals with social disorders to communicate, I would think the “ease” is fictitious. Fictitious because it would not do them much justice when they are in situations that require human interaction. I would answer your last question with a strong Yes! Even when we are in front of our friends, peers, or loved ones, we still have our faces glued to our phones, missing out on opportunities to make memories. Thank you for your post, I definitely learned something new.
V/R,
Leana Mason
sorry I pressed enter by accident and now I don’t know how I can edit the comment! As I was saying, 54% of online daters still believe that someone else has presented false information about themselves in their profile. I myself have never been on a dating site or app, nor have my close friends — so it’s not that I have had personal experience with being catfished. But the idea really does scare me …
Thanks for the post ! I enjoyed reading it,
Hilda
Reference
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/catfishing-the-truth-about-deception-online/
Hello,
I had actually never heard of the term Nomophobia before, but it definitely seems like there should be a term for feeling worried when being a way from our phones.
When I go to Beirut to visit my cousins, it always saddens me to witness how immersed my little cousin is in her cellphone. There are so many different apps that she uses on a daily basis, from instagram, to facebook, to musicaly, to photo editing apps — she barely leaves any time to do things in the physical realm. The negative aspects of social media sites and the internet in general are the most concerning for youngsters who are growing up with these gadgets. Even though I’m not a parent myself, I already get worried about how I am going to postpone introducing gadgets to my children in the future! It just seems like an impossible task to do!
That said, it’s definitely true that social media sites like Facebook allow individuals with different types of anxiety, especially social anxiety, to interact with peers and meet new people. But even that has its down side, because nobody can ever know if the person they are meeting is really who they present themselves as on social media. Even though online dating is being a lot more acceptable and something that a lot of people do, 59% of