Why are we attached to our phones?

By: Leilani Bruce

This week I got to read the article “Exploration of the forms of mobile phone attachment among traders in Ghana” by Rabiu K.B. Asante and learned a lot. This article talked about the attachments people have to their mobile phones, mostly focusing on younger populations and their ultimate neglect of older populations due to this addiction.

The article goes into detail about cell phone attachments from the working population in Africa. There was also some information on the attachment to mobile phones being connected to one's culture, gender, age, and level of education. The article also mentioned that even in developing countries, the increase in mobile phones have risen a lot between the years and indicates that it is almost impossible to find someone who doesn't have a mobile phone/access to one.

That shows how reliable and how much need people have for mobile phones. Now more than ever, they are easier to obtain and easier to use. Going back to the main points of the article, a topic that stood out to me was the one that mentioned how younger populations have a sense of neglect to the older populations based on the attachment to their cellphones.

This I can completely see and agree with. I feel like as technology increases and the need for cellphones, people become less involved in the present and the people around them. But not only this, there also is the competence of poor navigation that the older population has that could also be a huge reason why there is this disconnect between the populations.

When I think about my own family, I also see that disconnect between populations. For example, my elders like my grandparents and great grandparents have a harder time connecting with technology and all it has to offer than I do. It becomes hard for them to keep up with everything that's new, especially when our generation is so quick to move onto the next big thing.

I also found it interesting when the article said the attachment to cell phones could be linked to one's culture, gender, age or level of education. In terms of culture, I can see how this can be a major factor. People come from many different backgrounds and many different cultures, some cultures can be strict, while others are more lenient. This is why I can understand why some cultures can be hesitant to use mobile phones. This can be a good or bad way of thinking depending on how you look at it.

Next, they talked about gender and age having an impact on mobile phone use. This makes a lot of sense as well. For example, I know women, more specifically young women ages 12-18 may have a bigger need for cell phone use when comparing themselves online to other young women. We are supposedly ‘more sensitive’ to how people view us, so I would understand why younger women might use their phones more than anyone else.

Lastly, they mentioned the level of education holding an impact in how much we use our cell phones. I can also see why this might be because people from different education levels might need their phones more due to workload, but we can also look at it from the standpoint of people who received higher levels of education are able to afford mobile phones more than people who have a lower education level.

Overall, there are many different reasons for why people are addicted to their phones and it was interesting to hear what factors played a role in this.