Gitte Stald provided information about the role of mobile phones and the use of mobile communication by the youth of today. Stald addressed the use of mobile communication and how it interacted with adolescent’s identity within their mobile networking system. There were several concepts addressed in the chapter “Mobile Identity: Youth, Identity, and Mobile Communication Media,” that dealt with how mobile communication and the ability to be accessible/connected to their friends fulfilled the social needs of today’s youth. However, there were also adverse affects addressed like the inability to not be online, or turn off their phones for fear that they may miss something important.
Three concepts were introduced as having an adverse affect on the youth of today. The three concepts were adolescents feeling socially obligated to be available to their network of friends at all times, fear of missing a call or message causing insecurity in their position in their social network, and the inability to be without their mobile communication. All three of these concepts have manifested into some form of mental issue causing an adverse affect on today’s youth.
The first concept of mobile communication causing an adverse affect on today’s youth has to do with the burden of be available to their friends. The social obligation felt by today’s youth has made them very dependant on one another and may result in a dysfunctional social system of a codependent nature. This codependent issue then could manifest into a form of paranoia and fear of not being connected to their peers.
The second concept of mobile communication causing an adverse affect on the youth of today involves the fear of missing a call or message resulting in insecurity of their social status within the social network. The desire to “be in the know” becomes the driver to the desire to maintain their social status. The concern of missing a call could manifest into the phone becoming a form of a “security blanket” for many adolescents.
The third concept of mobile communication causing an adverse affect on the youth of today was the inability to be without their mobile communication. This so called “security blanket” concept could manifest into a identity crisis and has been stated that many adolescent can’t function without their mobile phones and has resulted in “phatic communication” fulfilling the desire to be connected at all times.
In conclusion, the three concepts of social obligation, insecurity of missing a call resulting in their lost social status and the inability to be without their phones, has caused an adverse affect on today’s adolescent and has manifested into some possible serious mental issues like paranoia, insecurity and a form of identity crisis if adolescents are not connected at all times. It is important to teach the youth of today to maintain balance in their lives and as stated by Stald, “The ideal is to be in control of life in general, symbolized by the ambition to being able to control the use of the mobile phone.”(pg. 152). More research needs be done on the mental issues surrounding mobile communication.
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