the way cell phone functions essay

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Essay on Mobile Phone: 100 Words, 300 Words, 500 Words

• Updated on  
• Feb 21, 2024

Mobile Phones are portable electronic devices used to make calls, browse the internet, click pictures, and do several other tasks. However, the mobile phones discovered in the early 1970s were quite different from the compact and slim devices we use today. Cell phones were invented by John F. Mitchell and Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973.

As modern humans, we all use mobile phones for our day-to-day functioning. At academic and higher education levels, students are given the task of writing an essay on mobile phones. An essay on mobile phones requires a comprehensive and detailed study of their history, major developments and the purposes it serve. In this article, we have provided essays on mobile phones for class 6,7,8.9, 10, and 12th standard students. Students can refer to these sample essays on mobile phones to write their own. Keep reading to find out essays on mobile phones and some fun facts about the device.

Table of Contents

• 1 Sample Essay on Mobile Phone (100 Words)
• 2 Sample Essay on Mobile Phone (300 words)
• 3 Sample Essay on Mobile Phone (500 words)
• 4 Essay on Mobile Phone: 5+ Facts About Smartphones

Sample Essay on Mobile Phone (100 Words)

Also Read: The Beginner’s Guide to Writing an Essay

Sample Essay on Mobile Phone (300 words)

Also Read: Essay on Importance of the Internet

Sample Essay on Mobile Phone (500 words)

Essay on Mobile Phone: 5+ Facts About Smartphones

Here we have listed some of the interesting facts about smartphones. These facts can be added to the ‘essay on mobile phones’ to make it more interesting. Below are the 5 interesting facts about smartphones:

• The most expensive smartphone in the world is the Falcon Supernova iPhone 6 Pink Diamond. It is worth  $48.5 million.
• The cheapest mobile phone in the world is the Freedom 251. It just cost INR 251.
• Apple is the world’s most popular smartphone
• The first phone greeting was “Ahoy-hoy, who’s calling please?” 
• The first smartphone was invented by IBM. It was released by IBM in 1994. The original screen name of the 1st smartphone was “Simon.” 
• The first text message in the world was ‘Merry Christmas’

Also Read: Holi Essay: Free Sample Essays 100 To 500 Words In English

A mobile phone system gets its name from diving the service into small cells. Each of these cells has a base station with a useful range in the order of a kilometre/mile.

Mobile phones have become extremely important due to the ease of communication it has brought about. Moreover, it can perform several major tasks easily and effectively. For example, a calculator. Aside from this mobile phones can help a user connect to the internet, and use social media applications, and other applications. Mobile phones can even assist in online payment. 

The full form or the meaning of a Moble is Modified, Operation, Byte, Integration, Limited, Energy”. John F. Mitchell and Martin Cooper of Motorola discovered the device in 1973. An essay on mobile phones can include the mobile phone full form.

Related Articles

Mobile phones have become an indispensable part of our lifestyle. There are several advantages and disadvantages of having a smartphone. However, the pros outweigh the cons. A mobile phone essay can be written by including both the advantages and disadvantages. To discover more articles like this one, consult the study abroad expert at Leverage Edu.

Blessy George

Blessy George is a Content Marketing Associate at Leverage Edu, boasting over a year of experience in the industry. Her expertise lies in crafting compelling content tailored to online courses, making her a go-to source for those navigating the vast landscape of digital learning. In addition to online classes, she writes content related to study abroad, English test preparation and visas. She has completed her MA degree in Political Science and has gained valuable experience as an intern.She is known for her extensive writing on various aspects of international education, garnering recognition for her insights and contributions. Apart from her professional pursuits, Blessy is passionate about creative writing, particularly poetry and songwriting.

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How Cellular Phones Have Changed Us Socially? Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Structural-functional theory, impacts of cellular phones on social life, accessibility, impact on social relationships, mobile phone etiquette, mobile phone crime, limited cognitive function, reference list.

The discovery of the mobile phone is one of the most interesting scientific innovations around the globe. Over the past two decades, a gradual change of technology from simple to high-tech communication gadgets has completely altered the initial role of the mobile phone. The first idea was to create a voice communication gadget to ease communication between people at far distances.

However, inconceivable developments in cellular phone electronics and software engineering have tremendously evolved the use of mobile phones from making simple voice calls and sending text messages to other overwhelming services.

Such services include instant and email messaging, internet serving, listening to music, playing games, stocktaking, mobile banking and money transfer, remote control, car tracking, health determination, videography, and photographing among other services.

The modern-day handphone presents an all-around purpose gadget that can perform a broad range of tasks. The versatility of the cellular phone has equally influenced the way people interact with each other.

Nevertheless, its use has created both positive and negative impacts on people’s lives. However, its advantages overshadow the disadvantages in many undisputable ways. This paper reviews how cellular phones have changed our lives socially using structural, functional theory.

The structural-functional theory is a sociological concept that is based on a functionalist point of view. Advanced by Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), this theory forms the basis of other sociological perspectives. The theory reveals the interdependence between the elements of society and how social structures work together harmoniously to create a self-balanced and self-sustaining society (Davis 1959).

The structural, functional theory enlightens people on how social institutions play an interactive role to create a well-balanced society. This theory is important because it shows how cellular phones have influenced society, both positively and negatively. Nevertheless, people cannot afford to keep them aside.

The harms and benefits balance in such a manner that creates socially stable communities where communication takes place in a fraction a second without involving much logistics in the process.

Cellular phones are essential communication tools in the twenty-first century. They have changed people’s social lives greatly. They have enabled us to reach anyone in any local or global geographic location by use of sophisticated wireless. Every generation of versatile gadgets leads to more foreseen benefits, which trigger enormous developments in the area of communication (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008).

From modest to sophisticated technology, modern handphones have performed several computer functions. Technologists claim that mobile phones will soon replace the use of computers and related devices due to their versatile nature (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008).

However, mobile phones have immensely influenced the way we socialize with each other. People hardly use old means of communication such as letter writing, posting, and faxing, among others. Nevertheless, functionalism holds that the use of the handphone has created an equilibrium society through the interaction of its good and bad aspects (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008; Smith 2012).

The structural, functional approach tries to explain how cellular phones have influenced the interaction of people and assets around the globe. Accessibility is probably the principal advantage of the handphone. The use of mobile phones has eased the way people reach others, both locally and internationally, in several ways (Addo 2013). People do not have to travel long distances to communicate with other people.

Cellular phones have increased real-time availability of people substantially. The world has developed into a ‘small village’ where individuals can socialize online, send email and text messages, make phone calls, transfer money through online banking systems, and remotely monitor businesses and the behavior of other people.

With modern-day cellular phone technology, it is needless to move from one place to another to do something that someone else in that place can do with the same efficiency and expectations. A single phone call is enough to enable a person to issue pieces of instructions from his or her location (Addo 2013).

Also, people can participate in debates, competitions, conferences, and other social functions without physical attendance. Cellular technology and the development of multipurpose gadgets with inbuilt cameras and sound receivers can place different individuals on the same platform and initiate a conversation between them without their physical interaction.

The structural, functional theory also helps people evaluate the use of cellular phones and determine their impact on social relationships. The basic intended purpose for acquiring a handphone is communication. As the mobile industry expands its production of more and more sophisticated cellular phones, so is the increase of its customers and thirst for improved handphones for tech-savvy users.

The dynamism of technology has diversified the use of the cellular phone. Communication just makes a part of its major functions. The gadget helps people build interpersonal relationships, acquire real-time information, and keep in touch with their friends, loved ones, business partners, or colleagues at work (Addo 2013).

A survey conducted to examine why people attach so much meaning to cellular phones revealed that convenience is a major factor towards the purchase of a cellular phone. People make calls when they wish. They respond to urgent matters because communication takes place much easier. Besides, they read news and other information on the internet without necessarily purchasing a newspaper or magazine (Smith 2012).

Smith (2012) further conducted a survey that revealed how nine percent of the respondents confirmed to have purchased cellular phones because they can handle internet and email apps without necessarily having to own a personal computer or attend to a cyber café, whereas eight percent acquired cellular phones to enhance communication with family members.

Fifteen-percent of the women interviewed said that the cellular phone assures them security in case of an emergency. This advantage not only applies to women, but also men, children, and the larger society. Parents feel more secure when they know that their child can alert them or call the police via 911 in case of an emergency (Smith 2012).

Cellular phones have helped people enhance their relationships with friends both physically through phone call appointments and virtually through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Presently, many people arrange meetings and events through phone calls and text messages (Smith, 2012).

In this context, according to the structural, functional theory, the cellular phone does not interfere with the social setting but instead enhances the way people interact with each other by saving time and costs of traveling from one place to another (Smith 2012).

However, every credit comes with a discredit. Mobile phones also have a negative influence on social relationships amongst teenagers, lovers, families, or even friends. The use of mobile phones has nearly replaced face-to-face communication (Addo, 2013). Many people nowadays prefer sending text and chat messages through their mobile phone applications.

The trend in the use of mobile phones encourages distant relationships, which do not favor love and family relationships. It is an obvious assumption that the phone does everything by providing convenience where necessary, be it conversing wirelessly over long distances or even sending money through wireless money transfer services. As a result, parents hardly have time for their children.

This situation forces them to hire caretakers who in most cases, never have control of the children. Most of these children grow up to be half-baked adults due to the poor parenthood (Addo 2013; Smith 2012). Nevertheless, the sociological functionalism approach holds that society is composed of self-balancing structures and elements (Davis 1959).

Structural functionalism also helps people study the development of addictive behavior that is associated with the use of mobile phones and how society copes with such behavior knowingly or unknowingly. Mobile phones have completely become part of the lives of many people (Smith, 2012). An American survey that was steered by Smith (2012) suggested that many mobile phone users live in paranoia of missing a call, an email, or a text message.

As a result, they tap their phones regularly to check for text messages or missed calls when nobody has called or texted their mobile phones. The research also revealed how idle individuals tend to use the ‘scroll’ button of their phones, consciously or unconsciously, even when they are not doing any significant thing (Smith 2012; Addo 2013; Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008).

Also, many mobile phone users tend to spend too much time on their phones (Smith 2012; Addo 2013). In the survey above, most youths admitted that they spend a lot of time sending text messages, either chatting on social sites or browsing the internet (Smith 2012; Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008). Addo asserts that children extend this habit to dining and sitting rooms, even in the presence of their parents (2013).

Further research reveals that many youths and middle-aged people attach more sense of symbolism to their mobile phones than any other electronic gadget around their localities (Addo 2013). According to Smith (2012), children are more likely to use mobile phones for considerably longer hours as compared to their parents.

Students, including teens and youths, have a tendency of using slang language or shortened abbreviations amongst themselves. The use of acronyms while sending a text message has significant effects on the spoken language. In most cases, incorporation of such acronyms in spoken language gradually changes the language to colloquial speech, which is not acceptable in official or academic situations (Smith 2012).

Long-term use of slang impairs good communication with interviewers. It may lead a potential candidate to lose a foreseen job in an interview (Addo 2013). Interpersonal communication with adults becomes a problem for youths since they only prefer sending text messages.

An Australian University survey on the usage of mobile phones by students reveals that the mobile phone addicts can send over hundred text messages while normal users can send between forty and fifty text messages daily (Smith 2012).

Cheating on mobile phones is another issue of concern amongst users. Most mobile phone users, especially the youths, have a habit of telling lies over the phone through calls or text messages (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008). Obvious lies entail predictable phrases such as, ‘my phone battery has no charge,’ ‘I was out of network,’ and ‘I wasn’t at the proximity of my phone’ among others.

Petty users will shamelessly terminate or hang on the call. They can terminate the call without a valid reason. To the extreme, a mischievous user may decide to switch off his or her mobile phones or put the caller’s line in the blacklist (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008).

Generally, these tendencies have negative impacts on social life, particularly when they target a parent, child, and private relationships. Cheating also creates a potential source of stress amongst many mobile phone users. It is socially unacceptable.

From a functionalist perspective, the etiquette of using a mobile phone does not matter. How the phone is used remains functional and relevant in the creation of a self-sustaining society. The fact that youths use abbreviated language provides an even faster way of communicating with each other.

However, this strategy is only applicable to peer groups that can interpret their acronyms. Spending too much time on the mobile phone is practically haunting. However, theoretically, it plays an exclusively complex role in creating a balance between social institutions (Davis 1959).

Mobile phone crime is a growing topic of interest across continents. Swindling, fraud, and cybercrime constitute the most common mobile phone crimes that are led by a thirst for quick money (Longe 2009). Tech-savvy criminals defraud individuals and companies to make huge money transfers to anonymous bank accounts.

Being aware of the risks involved in this kind of crime, fraudsters use both old-technology mobile phones together with modern-day Smartphones to seek anonymity (Longe 2009). Unlimited access to internet connections through mobile subscriber companies facilitates their fraudulent business.

In addition to swindling, fraud, and cybercrime, other crimes include access to pornographic materials, prostitution, human, and child trafficking (Longe 2009). Mobile phone users can access pornographic URLs, read, and view sexual films (Smith, 2012; Longe, 2009). Pornographic materials are socially unacceptable because they lead individuals to emotional distress and hunger for sex.

This habit is not only harmful to teenagers but also married men and women. Mobile phone crimes depict a morally decaying society. Their negative elements have far-reaching effects that are transferable from one generation to the next (Longe 2009). Propagation of prostitution is common practice with the use of modern mobile phones.

Prostitutes access the internet through their mobile devices and send hundreds of fraud messages to people, locally and internationally. With the growing population of social sites, most prostitutes have many contacts at their disposal (Longe 2009). However, mobile phone crime is equally important from a functionalist sociological perspective.

Mobile phone crime remains useful as far as the interaction of social institutions is concerned. For instance, cybercrime and human trafficking has prompted governments to research and find suitable means of protecting their people from exploitation by mobile phone criminals (Longe 2009; Davis 1959)

The functionalist sociological perspective enables people to explain how exposure to a mobile phone has led to limited cognitive functioning and the role in which social institutions play in effecting the ill-use of such high-tech gadgets. Performance, attendance, and abilities of a person go hand in hand with concentration.

However, studies have indicated that many individuals exhibit unethical behaviors due to addiction to mobile phones (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar, 2008). For instance, it is a common tendency of mobile phone users to send text messages or make phone calls while driving. This tendency is an evident cause of many accidents around the globe (Smith 2012).

A survey explicitly conducted to investigate the impact of mobile phone usage on drivers revealed that many drivers exhibit less control of their cars while making calls or sending text messages (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008; Smith 2012). According to Banjo, Hu, and Sundar, majority of drivers do not strictly manage their vehicles on track while making phone calls, sending text messages, or surfing the internet using their mobile phones (2008).

Cellular phone use behind the steering wheel leads to multitasking, and hence loss of full concentration of the vehicle. This behavior leads to a high likelihood of swerving off the road, decelerating on accelerating lanes, or crossing lanes unintentionally.

Nevertheless, functionalists purport that this kind of recklessness while driving helps the government in terms of reinforcing traffic rules through establishing ways of punishing defiant drivers (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008; Davis 1959; Addo 2013).

Cyclists and pedestrians who cross the roads while attending to their cellular phones have also caused accidents (Addo 2013). Establishment of traffic rules reassures the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, passengers, and drivers, thus creating a balance between phone usage and the occurrence of road accidents.

Another problem associated with mobile phones is the disruption of listening and cognitive abilities. This problem is common with university students. It is particularly noted during lecture lessons. Students have a common behavior of tapping their phones, filming or taking photographs in the course of a lesson (Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008).

Particularly, students are fond of browsing on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Google Talk among other social networks to post messages or check messages that have been sent on their walls by their friends.

This behavior disrupts their attention to the lecturer and consequently affects the students’ cognitive abilities (Smith 2012). Eventually, such lecture-room manners affect the students’ overall performance directly or indirectly. A lot of classroom work remains undone, thus leading to wastage of time while seeking notes from other students.

In some cases, such disruptive behaviors force lecturers to chase or suspend students from attending further classes due to the distraction of their attention and the attention of other students. Other influential attitudes may include cheating on examinations through browsing online sources to check information (Smith 2012).

Examinees who have cheating tendencies often tense because they develop paranoia of having an encounter with the supervisor. At times, this situation leads to examination cancellation, suspension, or expulsion from the college. According to the structural, functional theory, these situations initiate the establishment of rules within the school set up to control student behavior within the social institution (Davis 1959; Banjo, Hu, and Sundar 2008).

Structural functionalism is an ambiguous sociological perspective that helps people appreciate the importance of adopting cellular phones without embracing much criticism. The influence of cellular phone technology is practically enormous in a society that has embraced virtual communication.

Increase in mobile phone production and the increasing number of users mark further social influence. Owing to the ever innovative and dynamic communication industry, the future effects of cellular phones on the society and the role of functionalist theory to strike a balance between the behavior of human beings and social structures remain unknown.

Addo, Augustine. 2013. “The adoption of Cell phone: How has it changed us socially?” Issues in Business Management and Economics 1(3): 47-60.

Banjo, Omotayo, Yifeng Hu, and Shyam Sundar. 2008. “Cell phone Usage and Social Interaction with Proximate Others: Ringing in a Theoretical Model.” The Open Communication Journal 2: 127-135.

Davis, Kingsley. 1959. American Sociological Review: The Myth of Functional Analysis as a Special Method in Sociology and Anthropology . Berkeley: University of California Press.

Longe, Olumide. 2009. “Criminal Uses of Information & Communication Technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends, Concerns and Perspectives.” Journal of Information Technology Impact 9(3): 155-172.

Smith, Aaron. 2012. The Best (and Worst) of Mobile Connectivity: The Impact of Mobile Phones on People’s Lives .

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IvyPanda. (2020, March 16). How Cellular Phones Have Changed Us Socially? https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-cellular-phones-have-changed-us-socially/

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Smartphone Society: Have Our Phones Changed Ourselves?

Millions of people have a love/hate relationship with their smartphones. They know the devices are an indispensable tool for connecting with work, friends and the rest of the world. But they come with trade-offs—from privacy issues to ecological concerns to worries over their toll on our physical and emotional health.

“Everyone is ambivalent about their cell phones,” said Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs Alexander Dent , whose research focuses on the ever-present role smartphones play in society. “Even young people—who seem to be intravenously connected to them—are ambiguous about their cell phones.”

Our uncertain attitudes toward our phones was the focus of the inaugural Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) Dean’s Seminar event on Thursday, which brought together GW and Smithsonian anthropologists to untangle our complex connections to our phones. The seminar was held in collaboration with the CCAS Alumni Programs office.

Joining Dent on the expert panel were Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs Joel Kuipers and Joshua A. Bell , professional lecturer in anthropology and curator of globalization at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. All three are researchers with the Cellular Connections Project, a National Science Foundation-funded initiative evaluating the effects of cellular technology on Washington, D.C., teens. The project’s research forms the basis for a Smithsonian exhibit on cell phones that will open in December 2022. Bell is curating the exhibit.

CCAS Dean Paul Wahlbeck moderated the event, which kicked-off an ongoing discussion series featuring faculty experts exploring timely issues.

During the remote conversation, the panelists recognized smartphones’ prominence in society—a 2018 Pew Research Center showed that 95 percent of Americans have access to smartphones—while also nodding to their potentially detrimental impact on the environment, racial inequality and social anxieties. They acknowledged that smartphone ownership and usage may magnify race, class and gender divides—“We’re finding that cell phones can actually reinforce social inequality,” Dent said—and noted their links to real health concerns from heightened anxiety to near-sightedness.

But each also challenged myths about smartphone dangers and warned against alarmist overreactions. “We get bombarded by anti-cell phone discourses on how…they’re harmful in various ways,” said Dent, who is also the chair of Department of Anthropology . “We don’t want to come off as saying there are no real concerns. Of course, there are real concerns. We want to make sure we’re reading those concerns in historical and cultural context.”

The panel compared anxieties about smartphones to past warnings about technical advances like television. “The world has actually experienced and weathered some pretty big changes in technologies of communication in the past,” Kuipers said. “Turns out the printing press…was kind of a big deal. And radio also had a very profound impact.”

Dent also pointed to largely unsubstantiated claims that smartphones are spurring a generation unable to engage in face-to-face conversations and suffering sharp declines in cognition skills. He dismissed worries about “dopamine squirts” from smartphone usage, comparing it to brain-chemical rushes from ice cream and Halloween candy. “There’s an old-fashioned adage: everything in moderation,” Dent commented.

Kuipers added that “a lot more research…needs to be done before we can legitimately claim the sky is falling.”

The Dean’s Seminar discussion on smartphones featured (clockwise from top left) CCAS Dean Paul Wahlback, Smithsonian Curator of Globalization Joshua A. Bell and Anthropology Professors Joel Kuipers and Alexander Dent.

Nevertheless, the researchers conceded that smartphones represent a uniquely sophisticated technology transformation—one whose implications have to be taken seriously. “We’ve never really walked around with a small computer in our pocket,” Bell said. “We’re living through an interesting social experiment where we don’t know what’s going to happen with kids who have never lived [in] a world without touchscreens.”

Smartphones will always play a central role in our lives, the panelists predicted. “Whatever shape these devices take [in the future], smartphones are not going away,” Bell said. The characteristics that make cell phones different from other communications innovations—portability, instant response times, a unique ability to transcend space—have also ingrained them in our lives, Dent explained. And COVID-19 quarantines have only highlighted our reliance on our phones as everything from remote workplaces to streaming and shopping hubs.

At the same time, the panelists agreed, society will continue struggling to balance the convenience of smartphones against their trade-offs. Dent said that many of his students are alarmed by the intrusive marketing and privacy invasions associated with smartphones—but not enough to significantly curtail their usage or turn them off altogether.

And while noting that the ecological footprint of smartphones is smaller than cars and many other electronics, Bell emphasized that their production relies on large-scale mineral mining around the world. “To live the life we live, to be able to talk through Zoom, to be able to have a laptop, we need to extract these materials,” he said, despite troubling connections to environmental threats and global labor abuses.

“Humans generally are willing to put up with a lot if they get to do what they want,” he said. “The question is: What are you willing to trade to have access to everything? What are you willing to give up?”

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How Your Cell Phone Might Affect Your Brain

Research suggests smartphones impact the brain in a variety of ways

praetorianphoto / Getty Images  

• Reduced Cognitive Ability
• Worse Social and Emotional Skills
• Disrupted Sleep
• Mental Laziness
• How to Protect Your Brain

We use our phones for many things, from making business calls to checking our email to communicating with friends and loved ones. Our phones have become an inextricable part of our lives. But does this reliance on smartphones have any impact on our brains?

Some recent research indicates that it might. Experts suggest that all of this phone use might affect our social and emotional regulation skills, disrupt our sleep, and turn us into lazy thinkers.

Kids are also using these devices more and more, which has led experts to question the possible long-term effects on development. One study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that the amount of time kids spend staring at digital screens rose 52% over a three-year period.

How this might affect development remains to be seen. However, it is a question of interest for healthcare practitioners, mental health professionals, educators, parents, and anyone who uses a smartphone regularly.

At a Glance

If you're like most people, you use your phone for everything from talking to friends to managing your money to even doing your job. Unfortunately, some experts think this reliance might actually be taking a toll on our brains. Some negative effects that might happen include changes in cognitive ability, problems with social or emotional skills, problems sleeping, and mental laziness. While it's not likely (or realistic) for people to forgo their phones, their are some things we can do to protect our brains from these damaging effects.

Phone Use Can Negatively Affect Cognitive Ability

Recent research suggests that smartphone usage does indeed affect the brain. Remember, however, that such research is still in the early stages. While we know a bit more about some of the short-term effects, the long-term effects remain to be seen. 

Changes in Brain Chemistry

Some evidence indicates that using mobile phones might lead to chemical changes in the brain. In one study presented to the Radiological Society of North America, researchers found that young people with a so-called internet and smartphone addiction actually demonstrated imbalances in brain chemistry compared to a control group.

Such changes might help explain why some people develop technology addictions, and why others find it so tough to be without their phones .

Reduced Cognitive Capacity

One well-known study in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research found that cognitive capacity was significantly reduced whenever a smartphone is within reach, even when the phone is off.

Researchers dubbed this effect the "brain drain hypothesis." Essentially, we are less likely to rely on our own cognitive resources if we know an information source is readily available.

A more recent meta-analysis also found that the presence of a smartphone was associated with decreases in working memory. This is consistent with earlier results, but the newer analysis indicates that the magnitude of this effect might not be as pronounced as previously believed.

One factor that researchers think might play a part in how strongly people are affected by this: FOMO, or the fear of missing out . Being distracted by our phones suggests that we are always, on some level, thinking about what is happening in the online world—and what we might be missing when we aren't using our phones.

In other words, if you always feel a nagging sense that you're missing out on a text, news story, or celebrity gossip, keeping your phone visible while you work might be a bad idea. Consider turning it off and putting it in another room when you need to get stuff done.

Worse Reading Comprehension

You've probably noticed that how you read online text differs from how you read the printed page. For many of us, it's common to skim online articles or skip around the page to find key points. But this isn't the only difference. Some evidence indicates that we understand less of what we read online than what we do in print.

One 2020 study found that reading on an electronic device such as a smartphone results in lower reading comprehension.

The exact reasons for this are unclear, but researchers have found that people sigh less often when reading on a smartphone. This impact on respiration is also associated with excess activity in the brain's prefrontal cortex and reduced reading comprehension.

Phone Affects Social-Emotional Skills

In the commentary appearing in the journal Pediatrics , researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine took a closer look at the available literature on smartphone and iPad use among very young children.  

Using such devices to entertain or pacify children, they warn, might have a detrimental effect on their social and emotional development.

The concern, researchers suggest is that kids will not develop their own internal self-regulation mechanisms if they always rely on being distracted by a digital device.

The experts suggest that hands-on activities and those involving direct human interaction are superior to interactive screen games. The use of mobile devices becomes especially problematic when such devices replace hands-on activities that help develop visual-motor and sensorimotor skills.

There are still many unknowns about how the use of mobile devices influences child development. What concerns many experts, however, is whether the overuse of smartphones and tablets might interfere with developing social and problem-solving skills better acquired during unstructured play with interaction with peers.

Phone Use May Lead to Disrupted Sleep

Using your smartphone or tablet at bedtime might be interfering with your sleep, and not because you’re staying up late to check your email, scrolling through your social media feeds, or playing a game of online trivia.

Sleep experts warn that the type of light emitted from your mobile device’s screen might just be messing up your sleep cycle, even after you turn off your device.

In a study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences , a dozen adult participants were asked to either read on an iPad for four hours each night before bed or read printed books in dim lighting. After five consecutive nights, the two groups switched.

What the researchers discovered was that those who had read on an iPad before bedtime displayed a reduction in levels of melatonin , a hormone that increases throughout the evening and induces sleepiness. It also took these participants longer to fall asleep, and they experienced less REM sleep throughout the night.

The culprit? The type of blue light emitted by most mobile devices. The cells at the back of the eyes contain a light-sensitive protein that picks up specific wavelengths of light. These light-sensitive cells then send signals to the brain's "clock, " which regulates circadian rhythms.

Typically, blue light peaks in the morning, signaling your body to wake up for the day. Red light increases in the evening, signaling it is time to wind down and go to bed. By interrupting this natural cycle with the blue light emitted by mobile devices, the normal sleep-wake cycles are thrown out of whack.

These sleep interruptions can hurt your brain and mental health. Poor sleep is associated with various mental health problems , including mood changes, stress, anxiety, depression, and brain fog .

The next time you’re tempted to play with your mobile device in bed, think about the possible effect this might have on your brain and your sleep and consider picking up a paperback book instead.

Our Phones Might Be Making Us Mentally Lazy

Mobile devices don't just offer distraction—we also rely on them to provide information. We no longer have to memorize phone numbers or keep a Rolodex on our desks—all that information is conveniently stored on our phone’s contact list.

Instead of mulling over questions you might have about the world around you, you can just grab your phone and Google the answers. Instead of trying to remember appointments, meetings, or dates, you simply rely on an iPhone app to remind you of what you need to accomplish each day.

And some experts warn that this over-reliance on your mobile device for all the answers might lead to mental laziness. One study has found that there is a link between relying on a smartphone and mental laziness.

Smartphones don't necessarily turn people from deep thinkers into lazy thinkers, but the research does suggest that people who are naturally intuitive thinkers—or those who act based on instinct and emotions—tend to rely on their phones more frequently.

Researchers suggest that this can interfere with analytical and logical thinking. Some even wonder if using our phones too much might contribute to decreased intelligence.

Clearly, much more research is needed. Experts warn, however, that the use of mobile devices has far out-paced the available research on the subject. Scientists and doctors are just beginning to understand the potential short-term (and long-term) effects of smartphone use on the brain.

Mobile devices are bound to have their detriments, but the researchers also suggest that we have yet to fully understand how they might benefit the brain.

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So What Can You Do to Protect Your Brain?

Even though we might know that our phones might negatively affect our brains, the reality is that we need them. For many, they are a connection to information, resources, tools, and communication that are essential for daily life.

What we can do is work on becoming more intentional about how we use and interact with our phones. Strategies that can help:

Build Awareness

We need to know what we are dealing with before we can take steps to address it. This means tracking and assessing how much you are using your phone.

What are you using it for? What's your average daily screen time? Do you use your phone to soothe difficult emotions or avoid important tasks? Answering such questions can give you insight into problems you might want to address. 

Consider Setting Limits

Setting specific limits on your phone use can be helpful. It's important to be purposeful about your mobile phone use, but you should also consider what works for you.

For some people, this might involve removing certain apps from their phones. Others may find it helpful to use apps or phone settings to control how long they use certain apps or websites each day.

Some people find that it is helpful to have phone-free times or even entire days. For example, you might decide you won't use your phone after 7 PM or on Saturdays so you can fully focus on the other people in your life.

What This Means For You

While experts are beginning to get a clearer picture of the effects of cell phone on our brains, the reality is that there is still a lot that we don't know. The best thing you can do is consider some of these possible effects and take steps to be more intentional when using your phone. Give yourself breaks, set limits if you need to, and make sure that you aren't relying on tech devices to replace real-world connections.

Madigan S, Eirich R, Pador P, McArthur BA, Neville RD. Assessment of changes in child and adolescent screen time during the covid-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis . JAMA Pediatr . 2022;176(12):1188. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.4116

Radiology Society of North America. Smartphone Addiction Creates Imbalance in Brain . November 2017.

Ward AF, Duke K, Gneezy A, Box MW. Brain drain: The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity . Journal of the Association for Consumer Research . 2017;2(2):140-154. doi:10.1086/691462

Parry DA. Does the mere presence of a smartphone impact cognitive performance? A meta-analysis of the 'brain drain effect .' PsyArXiv ; 2022. doi:10.31234/osf.io/tnyda

Scientific American. Is your phone actually draining your brain ?

Honma M, Masaoka Y, Iizuka N, et al. Reading on a smartphone affects sigh generation, brain activity, and comprehension . Sci Rep . 2022;12(1):1589. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05605-0

Radesky JS, Schumacher J, Zuckerman B. Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad, and the unknown . Pediatrics . 2015;135(1):1-3. doi:10.1542/peds.2014-2251

Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA.  Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 2015;112(4):1232-1237. doi:10.1073/pnas.1418490112

Scott AJ, Webb TL, Rowse G.  Does improving sleep lead to better mental health? . A protocol for a meta-analytic review of randomised controlled trials.  BMJ Open . 2017;7(9):e016873. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016873

Barr N, Pennycook G, Stolz JA, Fugelsang JA.  The brain in your pocket: Evidence that smartphones are used to supplant thinking . Computers in Human Behavior . 2015;48:473-480. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.029

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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How Cell Phones Affect Our Lives

Table of contents, revolutionizing communication, altering social interactions, impact on productivity, health and well-being considerations, changing work dynamics, references:.

• Chóliz, M. (2010). Mobile phone addiction: A point of issue. Addiction Research & Theory, 18(4), 489-494.
• Clifford, S., & Valdespino, A. (2019). Are you phubbing right now? The Journal of Social Psychology, 159(4), 449-454.
• Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Social networking sites and addiction: Ten lessons learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(3), 311.
• Roberts, J. A., & David, M. E. (2016). My life has become a major distraction from my cell phone: Partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction among romantic partners. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 134-141.
• Rosen, L. D., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2013). Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 948-958.

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Can't put down the phone? How smartphones are changing our brains — and lives

Until a year and a half ago, Samuel Veissiere's smartphone was the last thing he saw before he fell asleep and the first thing that greeted him when he woke up. During the day, the device bombarded him with constant notifications — from four different email accounts as well as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Reddit and Twitter.

"It was abominable," said Veissiere, co-director of the Culture, Mind and Brain Program at McGill University in Montreal.

It's also a daily storyline familiar to many of us. In the U.S., at least three of every four people now own a smartphone . And one estimate suggests that Americans touch their mobile devices more than 2,600 times a day on average. But what do all those pings and buzzes, scrolls and swipes actually add up to? Is it worrisome — or not so much? After all, Socrates once warned that writing would "introduce forgetfulness" and make people "difficult to get along with."

"I think we know enough now to be deeply concerned about how these very, very powerful and seductive devices are influencing pretty much every aspect of our life," said Nicholas Carr, a technology and culture author.

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Veissiere and Carr are among researchers and public figures calling attention not just to the more widely discussed impacts of our phones — such as dinner disruptions and distracted drivers — but also to their subtler effects, which some fear could result in profound changes to our brains and to society.

Initial data from a $300-million study by the National Institutes of Health , for example, now provides evidence that a child's brain may indeed develop differently with heavy use of digital devices. Those of us whose brains matured before the first iPhone came to market in 2007 may also be vulnerable to mental changes. The more tethered we are to our phones, studies show, the harder it is to think deeply, attentively and conceptually — not to mention remember basic information . (Some of us may recall an era when our brains — not our devices — managed to remember our friends' phone numbers and birthdays.)

Laws of attraction and distraction

Our smartphones seem to wield their influence even when we're not using them. The mere presence of a smartphone seemed to reduce the quality of conversations in one study. Another study found a link between having a smartphone within sight, even if turned off, with lower scores on tests of short-term memory and problem solving.

"The effect is biggest for people who rely on their phones the most," said Adrian Ward, an expert in technology and cognition at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of that last study. "The more you give it control over different things — social connections , news, work, etc. — the more you are going to be attracted to this device."

Simply trying to resist that automatic attraction, he explained, takes up cognitive resources.

Even basic human decency may be sacrificed. Research suggests that smartphones can inhibit people from offering help to strangers on the street, reduce how much we smile at unfamiliar faces in a waiting room and even lessen our trust of strangers, neighbors and people of other religions or nationalities.

"People don't talk about or realize that we actually get quite a lot from casual social interactions," said Kostadin Kushlev, a social psychologist at the University of Georgetown University and an author of several smartphone studies. "Even when phones are at their most useful — such as when we're bored to death in the waiting room — there might be other things we're missing out on."

Perhaps not surprisingly, researchers have also begun to link weakened social skills, including the inability to read emotions or initiate casual conversations, to smartphone use.

"It takes time and practice to develop those skills," said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University. She studies generational differences and is currently focused on the post-millennial generation , or people born in 1995 or later. The iGen, as she calls them, is the first generation to spend its entire adolescence with smartphones.

The rise of the smartphone

Twenge noticed a troubling correlation between when smartphones became popular and when rates of mental health problems among teens and young adults began skyrocketing.

"It's also when the decline of in-person social interaction began to accelerate," Twenge said, adding that she can't be certain smartphones are the cause. "Whether it's someone you've never met or it's friends and family, spending time with people face to face is linked with happiness."

The less skilled we are at social interaction, of course, the less likely we probably are to seek it out. It's a self-perpetuating cycle that could have further unanticipated consequences, including less exposure to alternative points of view.

A lack of trust or understanding of other people and their perspectives may be among various ways smartphones could divide a society. Since the dawn of the internet, scholars have worried that users would seek only information that reinforces their existing point of view. Now, thanks to Facebook, Twitter and other smartphone apps whose makers push us information that they think will appeal to us, we no longer need to search for that confirming information; it simply pours out of our phones, Carr said.

"It clearly adds to the polarization of society and people getting more and more extreme in their views," he said. "I don't think we can blame the technology for all of this, but it's definitely amplifying the effect of negative trends that are shaping society at quite a deep level."

Our personal contributions to the streaming information may be altered by our smartphones as well. "We are likely to be less deliberate in our tweets and online posts when composing them on our phones compared to our laptops," said S. Shyam Sundar, co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State University and author of the study on helping strangers. "We will be more glib, more raw and less sugar-coated in our commentary, leading to more trolling and polarization in online spaces."

Finding a balance

None of this is to say that smartphones don't have great practical and entertainment value. It's harder now to get lost, but easier to find a date and keep up with friends, kids and the news. And in some ways, a greater diversity of people is at our fingertips. Apps such as Tinder allow people to easily connect with others outside their typical social networks. Occasional smiles from watching cute cat videos aren't necessarily bad for us either.

"The crux of the problem is figuring out how to get all these amazing benefits of this globally interconnected world without abandoning the things that make us most human," said Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco.

For him, that means taking back control over how we use the technology. He is co-developing technology — for smartphones — that aims to improve how our brains function. His video game is in the final stages of FDA approval and would be the first non-drug treatment for ADHD .

Meanwhile, Veissiere's lab is now testing simple interventions for smartphone users, such as turning off instant notifications, not sleeping with the phone next to you and switching the screen to gray scale to make it less attractive.

In early 2017, Veissiere became concerned enough about the consequences of his own smartphone use to make a bold move: He swapped out his latest greatest iPhone for an old flip phone with no internet connectivity. He now relies on his computer for news, social media and the like. "I have been more productive at work. My social interactions are great. My mood is great," said Veissiere, adding that he appreciates how the keyboard on his flip phone exercises his brain. "Perhaps it's a placebo effect. But it has worked really well for me."

"It's possible to slow down," he added. "We're not necessarily doomed and trapped."

Want more stories about technology?

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Home / Essay Samples / Information Science and Technology / Cell Phones / How Cellphones Changed The World

How Cellphones Changed The World

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