The term Nomophobia was originated from psychology, which denotes that there is actually a phobia of losing one’s phone. Nomophobia is a term describing the fear of being without a mobile phone device. The term is an abbreviation for ‘No-mobile-phone phobia’. According to a study, 54 percent of those questioned said they experienced Nomophobia.
The mobile phone is a perfect vehicle for illustrating the sociological perspective. For one, it is a human-created technology that has transformed or will transform every aspect of life. The revolutionary feature of the mobile phone is that it frees people from being in a specific physical space when they communicate with others. While the landline phone allowed us to communicate with others in faraway places, all parties had to arrange to be in a fixed location – an office, at home, in a telephone booth. In addition, people waited until they got home to some fixed location to tell someone what had happened in their day. Now people can share what is happening as it happens. In Nigeria, people can misquote, and misinform others by just a dial or post. The Emir may say A, and someone may use his phone and change it to B or C for public consumption.
With mobile phones, people are no longer confined to a fixed location. We can now communicate while driving or walking to class. It doesn’t matter if we are skydiving, on a mountain top, at a party, or at Mosque or Church. In addition the technology is such that the mobile phone can function as a miniature laptop with Internet access and as a multimedia device allowing people to exchange photographs, text messages, music, videos, and anything that can be digitalised. Mobile phones also allow people to choose from millions of applications that facilitate social and business transactions and that meet needs for just about any kind of information or entertainment.
We must appreciate the emergence of mobile phones and the internet, but it is obligatory upon us to guide the misguided and uninformed, those people around us who use the comfort of mobile phones to ignite violence and to misrepresent. Many contemporary problems in Nigeria were exaggerated in the social media; many were communicated through the use of mobile phones. A person with a 5,000 Naira mobile phone is capable of igniting a disastrous clash among tribes, sects and religions.
I once wrote an article in which I explained the newly emerged syndrome of ‘Copy and Paste’ among Nigerians. Mr. A may write rubbish or defamatory statement, before you know it, it will be spread all over the space; without even going through the piece, largely by people who hardly understand the language used.
The discipline of sociology offers us theories, concepts, and methods needed to look beyond popular meanings and explanations of what is going on around us. By the very logic of our discipline, we are driven to debunk the social systems we study. One should not mistake this drive as being located in a sociologist’s temperament or personal inclination. Apart from our field of study, sociologists may be “disinclined to disturb the comfortable assumptions” about what is going on around us.
To be a Nomophobic is psychologically stable, but the misuse of the mobile phone is otherwise. What happens when you leave the house without your phone and you get to your destination realising that you left it behind? Does your mind race with thoughts like “what will my mother, partner, friend, or boss think if they call or text and I don’t reply within, say 15 minutes? How will I let people know where I am and why they haven’t heard from me?”
In an attempt to review the use of mobile phones in our society (Nigeria), we must seek to understand how mobile phones affect the nature of the social bonds people form. On many social media platforms, you will find brothers who parted their ways as a result of some arguments. A friendship which was built for quite a long time, may likely end while arguing under a social media post.
Broadly speaking, the mobile phone (unlike the landline phone) allows people to communicate with others regardless of location – that is, people with mobile phones do not need to be in a fixed location, such as in their home at an agreed-upon time, to communicate with others. And as mobile phones increasingly allow Internet access, the potential to connect with others will increase dramatically. Callers or texters may now intrude into just about any situation (a football game, a public bathroom, a classroom, a doctor’s office). In addition, people can take advantage of applications (apps) and/or browse the Internet looking for immediate answers to questions, for example, in search for directions, places to eat and track friends and family through social networking sites.
To be a Nomophobic is clearly understandable. Our situation in Nigeria is beyond nomophobia, a new term should be in place to capture the reality of our actions and reactions on social media.
Idris can be reached at idrizman@yahoo.com