New Technologies and Ethical/Honest Issues

Some of the new technologies that surround us today can have a harm on our personal lives and our relationships because of the way people present themselves or how others treat other users. A mass of our society has created a lower expectation of privacy for themselves. They will post pictures of them doing illegal activities on their web page or send pornography via text message, known as "sexting." These examples show that they are open to the world. Whether they realize the harms or not, I do not know. Do people think about how long the image of themselves will stay on the Internet? Do they realize that if they send nude pictures of themselves to someones cell phone they can or will show other people?

I recently saw an episode on the Tyra Banks Show about a young girl who sent her boyfriend pornographic photos of them making out. The couple had broken up and he began showing them to his friends. When she found out, she requested that he returned the photos, but he refused. They had a judge on the show that said he legally did not have to return the photos because she gave them to him. That is the same about what we post on the web. We are not legally guaranteed to get them returned if someone uses them inappropriately.

We must be careful what we post on the Internet or what we choose to share with the world because people may use them inappropriately. There are many things that can happen to your image or content. It can be manipulated, stolen, spread, etc.

People on social networking sites or on the web may not be who they seem. When MySpace first came out, my friend thought it would be funny to create an account of a fake guy. She dressed up in guy clothes and put a hat and sun glasses on. She took a few photos and posted them on her profile. She then began by chatting with girls pretending to hit on them. She did this for pure amusement, she thought it was funny. She now sees the stupidity but she was young then and more immature. I think that there are other people out there who make these same pages. We have to be careful when creating new friends online because they may completely different then they portray themselves to be. If someone did develop a relationship with a "fake" person, is it still real?

Another thing that can happen is that someone take your pictures and create a page with whatever information they want. If they put information up there that would make us look bad then people could see that and judge you, they would not know that it was not your page. In class we have been talking about how more and more employers are viewing potential employers blogs. If someone created a page about you with untruthful facts then the employer would have mis-judgement.

Also we must be careful of predators that are on the web. If you make a friendship with someone be careful when meeting them in person. There are several cases where is has led to rape or murder. The predators will create a relationship with you that will feel so real, but it could be a distorted relationship because they may be in it for different reasons than you. I found an article on this matter in the Washington Post, "Myspace Against Predators," by Karen Freifeld. The article mentions how Mysapce is concerned about the issues of predators and how the process to adopt new online safety standards to better protect children from sexual predators. The article interviewed a North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and he said in a report that MySpace had 29,000 registered sex offenders as users. Social networking sites enable and enhance the potential predators or predators.

In class we read an article called "A rape in cyberspace," by Julian Dibbell. It talks about a girl who was in an online chat room when another character raped her. He did not physically, but he typed out the actions. This can hurt some people because they are so connected to their virtual reality world. It is hard to trust other people that are online. It is a difficult place to regulate though without crossing into freedom of speech. This girl was very hurt by the rape but there is not a way for him to be punished. The only thing they can do is delete his character but he could get back online and create a new character. How should cases like this be handled? Should he have been punished some how.

Content of the web can be an issue for many, especially for children. You can type anything into google and it will pull up images. Young children can stumble upon pictures that are not age appropriate for themselves. For awhile my parents computer had a virus where it would just pull up random websites over and over again so that there was around ten pages open. Once when I was on it a page of pornographic images popped up. It is scary to me that this could happen to a young child and strike an interest.

Also with adults, pornography is easily accessible. Pornography can be an addiction for many and it can hurt relationships with people in their life, it especially can hurt their companionship with their partner. It also changes the way that woman or men view one another, it sexualizes everything. Also addicts usually take hours out of their day to view the images, so it takes away time to spend with family and friends. When porn is more accessible the chances of an addict looking at the images is higher. A Harvard researcher Ben Edelman, After analyzing subscriber data from an unnamed 'top 10 seller of online adult entertainment,' Ben Edelman said that when comparing broadband subscribers, Utah comes first, with an average of 5.47 per 1000. In second place is Alaska with just over 5.03 per 1000, and coming in third is Mississippi. The amount of pornography users is growing.

This graph shows the amount of pornographic viewers by the top states. The information is based off the amount of broadband subscribers buying adult entertainment. The numbers are based off the amount of people out of 1,000.

We need to be careful about what we share online. Remember that it is a shared network and almost everything you post can be viewed by everyone. There are many ethical issues with the Internet and new technologies but if we are careful, then the benefits outweigh the issues.

How Much Technology is Too Much?

These days it seems like we are always connected to some sort of technology whether it be conciously or unconciously. While doing other tasks we are staying connected by using our lap tops, ipod, television set, radio, cell phones, and all other sorts of media.

As we watch our HD flat screen televisions, we are surfing facebook and texting our friends on our cell phones. I have found that multi-task like this is pretty easy. I have become so adjusted to the technology that surrounds me I can use it all at once without it even being difficult for me.

The comic on this blog made me laugh because it seemed so true. We go places that are out in the middle of know where and we can use GPS systems to guide us, and play games such as geocaching. Also you can even sometimes get wireless signal from our laptops or service on our mobile phones. I go running in the mountains often and I sometimes take my phone just in case there is an emergency. It is my comfort, and I also find it amazing that I can go one place that it seems I may be free from technology, it still follows me there. I read an article in Health magazine about a girl and father who used to run together every Saturday and just talk about what was going on in their lives. Then the daughter moved 2,000 miles away, but they still managed to run "together." They each wore a cellular head device and took off for their run in two completely different cities, and just talked on the head piece the entire time. It has become their Saturday morning ritual. Even though they cannot be together physically they still have the connection between themselves because of technology. I think it is cool that technology can help us bring us closer to our friends and family. Who would have thought you would talk on your cell phone during your entire run?

The connection to technology brings up the term ubiqutious computing. In our class we read an article called, "Ubiquitous Computing," by Jason Weiss. In the article he defines it as, "Ubiquitous computing's highest ideal is to make a computer so imbedded, so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even thinking about it." This goes beyond the connection between technology and society as I have already talked about. This would be even taking it further. Ubiquitous computing creates such a connection where you do not have to get past learning how to use the technology, but instead it just does it. To me it sounds like we are going to become robotic. In class we talked about how when we went grocery shopping we can use our cell phones to scan the items we want, our refridgerators would tell us receipes to make out of the food we put in the fridge. We even talked about things about yourself that would appear on the internet could appear on your shirt. It just sounds so far fetched, but I do believe it could happen soon. The way technology is going, I just have no idea what will be presented in my future.

I know that all the connections with technology strengthens relationships, but to me that seems obvious. But at the same time I wonder if it divides them as well. I wonder if the constant focus on technology some how divides us from those in our lives that are not so involved with technology.

I think we are so dependent on our technology, but I don't know if that is a bad thing because it seems like it will always be here. If it is not going to go away, why does it matter if we are so dependent on it? I found an article about this on Tech News World Website called, "Kids and Tech: How much is too much?" by Jennifer LeClaire. It talked about how the amount of technology and our dependency on it has effected childrens psychological development.
From Baby Einstein tapes for infants to Reader Rabbit software to Nintendo given at early ages. Technological advancements designed to stimulate the intellect and entertain children have become overwhelming to many 21st century kids. A benefit is that technology access has been linked to improved reading skills. But the article also talks about how some people believe that too much technology can impose dangers on today's youth. Some of the dangers include vision impairment, technology addiction and sexual solicitation. In the past we only had to worry about to much television exposure. Now we also have to worry about too much cell phone, computer, and video games.

So my question to ask is, how much technology is too much? Or is there such a thing is too much? I don't know the answer because technology brings so much good to society but it also brings negative aspects as well. I wonder if most people even realize how involved they are with technology or I wonder if they even realize how much it has changed for their lives, for good or bad. To me these questions depend on every individuals opinion, but I do believe we should be more aware of the good and the bad that it does bring.

Virtual Reality Worlds and Interpersonal Relationships

Massively multiplayer online role playing games (or MMORPGs) is a video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously and they allow you to interact with others around the world. An avatar, wich is a character that you can personalize and use when interacting with friends online. You can change hairstyles, clothes, accessories, and backgrounds, you can create your own unique persona.

One of the popular sites is Second Life. The site is set up so that it is simple to create an avatar and begin finding friends. "Second Life is a free online virtual world imagined and created by its Residents. From the moment you enter Second Life, you'll discover a fast-growing digital world filled with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity."

When creating an avatar you can choose a unique name for your new digital persona (i.e. avatar). Some people create an identity that is similar to their real lives, while many others create alternative personas that are unlike their "real world" existence. The choice is up to the individual. That makes the virtual reality different from "reality." In reality you cannot hide your identity as much. Most of the time you are who you are. If you are skinny or fat, tall or skinny, pretty or ugly you cannot change that. People see what they see. In the virtual reality world you can make your character how you would like to be portrayed. You can choose nice clothes, even designer clothes, for them and make them look how ever you want. In the real world you cannot just get nice clothes for free, and if you are not in a high social economic class then it is not even a possibility. So you can create a life seperate from who you are.

Like real life, you may encounter people in Second Life that you wish to ignore. Unlike real life, in the Second Life virtual world there is a simple button that you can click to mute them. If only real life were that easy. In reality you cannot just mute your friend when there is a problem in your relationship.

If people become to involved in their virtual life then it can cause problems with their relationships. If you are spending too much time in your virtual world then you begin to put that life before others in your reality life, such as a spouse or family member. Also your perception on how relationships work is distorted. Because of the way that you can mute those you do not wish to talk to or how you can be someone opposite of who you are in your real world.

However virtual reality worlds also help connect relationships and society.

Many businesses conduct meetings through reality worlds. Some use virtual reality worlds such as second life, but an there is an increasing amount of companies creating customized virtual reality worlds. According to an article, "Life After Second Life," on businessweek.com many businesses are creating their own worlds so they can increase flexibility in terms of designing a branded enviornment. Also because other virtual worlds are open to anyone who wants to open an account and create an avatar, it is open to uplanned cyber-jacking of corporate events. Many companies want to avoid the intruders who can turn up in virtual meetings. Virtual reality worlds have created a unique ways for people to conduct meetings.

Also they help those with certain disabilities conduct a life free of their disabilites. It allows someone who is handicap manuvere a persona like everyone else. It is somewhere for them to go where they can feel "normal."

Also like social networking sites, virtual reality worlds help those who are shy conduct conversations and meet people without having to be face to face.

I set up my own avatar on secondlife.com. It was pretty simple. It took me about an hour to set it up and explore the land. When I first began logging into my account with second life a box popped up saying that I would not be able to access everything because my computer did not have the applications to do so. That right there led me to think of the digital divide. If someone who is educated and in the middel soical economic class is having troubles accessing secondlife then I cannot help but think there are many people who cannot. Therefore these sites do not involve all different types of people because they are restrained due to some of the issues that I talked about with the digital divide.

As I was playing around on secondlife I found that I was having a hard time figuring out how to do some things. I could not figure out how to go to a different city or area or how to view the maps. I do feel that they would be things that I could figure out how to do as I got more comfortable in the site.

I did not find it very entertaining to be on the site. It just seemed like everyone around me was standing around (as an avatar, I took the photo above). I do not have any friends that participate in any virtual worlds and I do not feel the desire to talk with strangers. I would rather talk to my friends in person, phone, or on facebook.

I liked trying out the technology. It was interesting to see how it works and learn more about it. However, I don't think that I will access the account.

Video Games and Interpersonal Relationships

I think video games for the most part are used for enjoyment, but I do believe that they can cause a divide in interpersonal relationships. This topic is one that I usually come down hard on because I just cannot see how people can become so involved in a game and that it becomes so important to them that they treat it like reality or they neglect other aspects of life. Also some people become so involved that they ignore the reality of their life.

I thing that if you are playing video games 5 or 6 hours a day then it makes it difficult to create relationships with others. Your focus becomes so directed towardst the game that it just begins to tune everything else out.

My friends husband was quite addicted to video games for awhile. She noticed the more he played the more irritated he would become. She would try and talk to him and he would get aggitated. It started to drive their relationship apart. He has cut down his playing time and it has helped the issue. I don't think this is true with every relationship but I do think it would be pretty common.

The article "Effects of Video Games on Aggressive Thoughts and Behaviors," by Thomas Kooijmans discusses some of the effects video games can have on our minds. Studies have been conducted that video games can cause aggression and abuse. Some people beleive that because many video games are geared toward fighting and killing things that they bring it into their own life. The article talks about how much more developed video games are then they used to be. They used to consist of shapes and not as much detail and now they are so real it puts you into the game. Video games are also more controlling because we commit the acts when we are playing so that effects our minds more than a movie or other media would.

These aggressions found can definetly effect relationships because of the way they are being treated.

Stereotypes in video games also have an effect. Almost every video game has a hero and a demon. If the hero is a man then they are usually white (86% based on the study below), strong and good looking. If it is a women then she is beautiful, skinny and powerful. Minorities are shown as the ones who have less power. A 2001 study, Fair Play? Violence, Gender and Race in Video Games, from the US-based organization Children Now, examined a selection of the most popular games for the seven different game systems. It found that depictions of African American, Asian, Hispanic and Native American males were rare and white female characters outnumbered female characters of every racial group.

The study also showed that when the minorities were displayed they were played in their stereotypical roles.
- Eight out of ten African American males were portrayed as competitors in sports games.
- Latinos only appeared in sports games, most of them baseball.
- Seven out of ten Asian characters were portrayed as fighters or wrestlers.

Also in many video games the women are sexualized. This can have an effect on those who play video games for a large part of their day. The video game becomes their life and then they reflect what they have seen into the reality of their "real" lives.

On the flip side I found a study in an article titled, "The Game of Love: Relationship Expert Says Couples that Play Together Stay Together." The article is about an online survey that was taken by Kelton Research. The results found that gaming can be a fun inexpensive date that can help connect partners. Here are some of the results found below.

"The biggest allure for 61 percent of Americans is that video gaming is something a couple can do together. Others see gaming together as a good way to work as a team (25%), while some just enjoy watching the faces their significant other makes while playing (20%). During times of economic uncertainty, couples also look to this seemingly unconventional dating activity as an inexpensive way to spend time together. In fact, 21 percent of respondents admit that gaming is appealing because it's a low-cost date option."

I think this article is interesting and it gives us another view. The article also had many posts from respondants saying that they feel like video games can connect them in a different way.

Here is the articles link http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/208738/survey-says-games-make-a-great-date/.

Video game usage also have a toll on some peoples lives in other ways. In class we read an article called, "The Life of a Chinese Gold Farmer," by Jillian Dibbell. Gold farming is when certain people help gamers obtain certain levels in the game or gain coins. They are institutions that take control of a customers player and plays until they get them to the desired position. There is a fee that comes along with this, but it saves the player a great amount of time so that they can play on levels they desire. The way that it effects relationships is for those who are the actual gold farmers. In the article we read in class the gold farm we talked about was in China. It was almost like a small sweat shop. Employees would work 12 hour shifts working for nearly 30 cents an hour. Their relationships were effected because of the way that they live. Some even slept at the gold farm only resting to eat or rest. It also changes the way they view many people who purchase the exchange. The gold farmers played the games to make a living where as those who purchase the trade are doing it more for entertainment. It makes them feel in a lower position.

I had no idea that such a thing as gold farming existed until we read this article in our class. I wonder how many people know about this. Do you think that people would make the exchange if they knew the situation for some of the gold farmers?

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that video games can have postive aspects. They can be fun to play with groups of friends or to release stress, but the problem develops when people begin to isolate themselves.

Digital Divide and Interpersonal Relationships

I think the digital divide does effect interpersonal relationships. The digital divide is the knowledge between people who use technology and those who don't. It can be related to socio-economic status, age, gender, desire, old and new technology battle, availability and generational. This ties into relationships because depending on the different technologies we use it places us somewhere on the digital divide. Technologies can either bring relationships closer or they can bring them apart. Because I am talking about the digital divide I will be focusing on how they affect the relationships and pull them apart for this post.

The usage of internet is higher in some regions and lower in others. This divides the regions because of the different amounts of people who use the internet. Here is a break down on world internet users by world regions:
Africa 3.4%
Asia 41.1%
Europe 24.7%
Middle East 2.9%
North America 15.6%
Latin America 11.0%
Oceania/Austrailia 1.3%

This statistics were found on the web at www.internetworldstats.com/stats.html

These are large differences. The amount of users in Asia compared to the low amount in Oceania/Austrailia is so large. How could we possibly stay well connected with them?

The digital divide has become such a large growing problem, President Obama is even trying to tackle the problem. In class we talked about the two solutions proposed. One was that broad band internet should be available to everyone, like electricity is. This seems like a great idea but there are still so many people that do not have access to the resources to access the internet. The second idea is that all cell phones have internet access. I just did not think this would solve the situation either because again there are many people that don't have cell phones. There may be some cultures that don't want to use them, some may not be able to afford a phone and a service, and people may not know how to access it or use it. I am glad that he is addressing the issue though. Technology is growing so fast that we need to address these issues before they get worse and the divide becomes larger.

I know that technology brings many people together, as I have mentioned in my other posts. It allows those who have the technology to connect on so many basis but then there are those who cannot.

In the article we read in class called, "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide," by Mark Warschauer it examines the concept of a digital divide by introducing problematic examples of community technology projects.

One of them is "A Model Computer Lab." The United States Agency for International Development decided to donate a computer laboratory to the college of education at a major Egyptian university. The purpose of the donation was to establish a model teacher-training program in computer-assisted learning.

USAID purchased all the hardware and software. However, the school was responsible to keep them up and ruuning.

The college and university could not easily justify spending the money to house and maintain
such an expensive laboratory for a single program when other programs were poorly funded. No money was available to hire an outside LAN manager or provide Internet access at the level agreed upon in the proposal.

Due to the issued involved with the donation the computers sat in their boxes for more than a year causing their economic value to decrease 1/3.

The problem here is that the college did not have the knowledge to work the computers and keep them running. The donation began dividing the school because other colleges were jealous. The board could not justify spending money when other colleges were poorly funded. They also lacked the funds to support the computers or hire anyone to.

When they were trying to help it caused the divide to grow a little larger. It is difficult to find a solution that will solve the issue. You cannot just give people things because they do not have the money or the knowledge to support them. There would need to be some sort of class or program that could help people learn more about the technology.

Some believe that it is not their problem to help the solution, but I think that there should be something done in order for us to keep our society connected without leaving some behind.

Different Generations and Interpersonal Relationships

Now that new technology is coming at us all the time at such a fast pace we are learning to adjust quicker. Younger generations have grown up with the boom of technologies all around. So they adjust and adapt to new technologies quicker and easier.

Many children get cell phones when they are in grade school and if not then, they do in middle school. Our minds our still developing so it is easier to learn how to operate technologies because we have grown up around them.

Schools now now introduce technologies to young children in their classrooms. They teach you how to work new software programs or different types of computers. Even now in college there are classes that teach you how to use new softwares that are difficult to figure out. An example of this is excel. It is difficult for many people to figure out but many students are taught how to operate it in school.

In Jenkins article, "Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape, he states that in the past cultural traditions were passed from one generation to the next: the transfers constituted a primary focus of educational primary practices. This is not the case anymore because our parents don't guide us and direct us on how to use a new cell phone or computer. It is not something they have experienced and are able to pass along to us. I'm not saying this is the case for all relationships but for I believe it is for many.

Many members of the younger generations don't feel that emailing is applicable anymore because they feel that it is for "older people," they would rather communicate by instant messaging, posting on social networking sites or texting.

It is difficult to communicate with our parents and older generaitons because they do not communicate in the way that each generations prefer. Facebook brings many younger generations together but it leaves many people behind.

Technology has become so everday that they have almost become invisible to us, Jenkins suggests. This is ecspecially true with younger generations. We don't know what it would be like to only communicate the "old fashioned" ways.

Jenkins also found that research suggests that young people and adults live in a fundamentally different media enviornments, using communication technology in different ways and forming contradictary interpretations of their experiences.

Also the technology divide between younger and older generations has an effect on the workplace. Their relationship with their employees, co-workers or customers may be impacted.

Work places have noticed the digital divide and often times are frustrated and looking for solutions.
Tamera Keith wrote, "Young bosses Push Elders to Embrace Technology," which gives an example of a young boss pushing new technology on employees.

When it comes to older employees and their younger bosses, it's more than just age and technology — it can be a cultural divide, says Lisa Orrell, a generation relations expert and the author of Millennials Incorporated. Millennials are people born in 1980 or later, also known as Generation Y.

"What's happening is all of a sudden you're 53 years old and you've got a 28-year-old manager, and the millennials are very, very, very different," says Orrell.

This happens quite often now and the younger boss is more geared to the larger amount of technology use. I have noticed at my own job, how hard it is for some of the other people to attatch documents to emails or other things like that.


Orrell gives her advice to both generations in the work field. Her advice to older employees: "They have got to be a heck of a lot more flexible than they've been."

Many older people become quit stuborn in their choice to learn about new technologies. Either they are scared, under educated or don't understand. I know that there are some people out there that do want to learn and have not received the chance though.

Orrell has suggestions for younger workers, too. She thinks they should respect the experience of their elders and be willing to teach them about things like text messaging, Facebook and Twitter.

And this is a great example of this advice. At Serena Software, a company where most of the employees are older than the chief executive. Jeremy Burton, 41, decided everyone at the Redwood City, Calif., company should be on Facebook.

"I want folks to learn about the software as well as learn a bit more about the folks they work with, which I think is great for team building," Burton says.

In the article Burton explains that it took coaxing and coaching, but it did work and he even got his more senior employees along.

"There's about 95 percent of the employees up there," Burton says. "And I can see the status of probably 50, 60, 70 people right from my desk."

That includes senior manager Tom Clement's status. Clement is 55, and until his boss nudged him toward the social-networking site, he had no use for it. He did not understand it.

Now Clement has come around to Facebook, but he says there are just so many other things to learn about. "I think it just makes me wish that I could magically understand all these things," he says, referring to Twitter and other online applications. "The way you might magically understand things if you were growing up as a teenager and everyone around you were using all of them."

I just think that was a great idea that the boss came up with. It brought his employees closer and closed the digital divide a small amount.

I know that there is not always a digital divide between "our generation" and "older generations but I think most of the time there is. And it is because of the quick growth rate of technology that has been around us almost our entire lives.

Cell Phones and Relationships

I do feel that cell phones have created such great opportunities for society and is a great technology, but it does have a few negative effects as well.

A cell phone is a great technology. It has become so normalized. Almost everyone I know has a cell phone and when someone does not I always wonder how they could live with out one. I know that sounds funny but I use my cell phone all the time and so does the society I'm surrounded by.
It is great to know that I can be driving down a road in the middle of the night and be able to get in contact with someone if an accident were to occur.
It is also great to be able to be on the go and be talking on your phone. With land lines you are refrained to only your home or work. But with cell phones you can run all your errands and still stay connected with your friends or family.

Also it is just so much easier to get in contact with someone anytime and anywhere almost.

Text messaging is also something that goes along with cell phones. Texting is a great way to talk to someone quickly and cut out a long conversation or talk with someone if they are unavailable to speak. I feel that texting is over rated. I think that many people would disagree, but I do like talking on the phone with people better.

A negative effect of cell phones is that you are made available to people almost all time. People will expect you to answer while your at work or in class. It can be a bit distracting when someone is calling you while you are busy.

Also texting cuts out personal relationships. It does not allow one to portray their feelings or tone of voice. It is easy to misunderstand one another.

Texting cuts out some groups of people such as people of lower economic class or the older generation. According to Jenkins article, "Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape," he says that young people adopt cultural styles and values radically different than the older generations, and this may put us at odds with our parents. Historically cultural traditions are passed from one generation to another, so there is a large change for many.
I have taught my parents how to text message but it took them a few months to finally figure it out. Even now they still would rather talk on the phone. It makes it difficult for the older generations and younger generations to connect because each of them prefer to communicate in a different way.

The technology of cell phones and texting divides the lower economic class because they may not be able to afford the products many others enjoy. In Lagdon Winner's article, "Do Artifacts Have Politics?" he explains that technologies are political because of the way technology divides or governs communities.

"In the processes by which structuring decisions are made, different people are situated differently and possess unequal degrees of power as well as unequal levels of awareness."

This is true because those who cannot afford the newest technologies can't stay quite as united with others or do not have equal chance.

Probably the largest negative effect is that we are so focused on our conversations on our cell phones that we cut the world out around us. We are so focused that we fail to interact with those that surround us. Wherever we go we see people talking on their cell phones, while they are driving, shopping at the grocery store or even while we are engaged in recreational activities. Many people begin to feel ignored when the person they are with is on their cell phone or texting the entire day.

A study conducted by the Herman Group and presented in the article, Ubiquitous Cell Phones Blocking Relationships, says that an amazing proportion of people actually prefer a phone conversation then the opportunity to talk face-to-face with an individual. I think that does disrupt conversations and that this makes our lives impersonal.

Cell phones unite and divide us with others. They are a great way to stay connected, but people should be aware of the growing problems that come along with them.