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Smartphones and their Impact on : Case study of Slovakia

Thesis

By

Denisa Kubackova

Bachelor of

In

Communication and Mass

State University of New York

Empire State College

Year 2015

Reader: Silvia Chelala

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank to the entire staff and administration of UNYP and ESC for all their hard work, commitment and help throughout my studies. Especially, I would like to thank my mentor Silvia Chelala for the support and time she spent working on my thesis. I would like to also mention Todd Nesbitt and Tess Slavíčková for invaluable knowledge and guidance in the areas of communication and . I truly believe that the understanding and skill I have obtained will help me in my future career success.

Table of contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………....6

CHAPTER 1 COMMUNICATION THEORIES……...…………………….…………...... 9

1.1 ……………………………………………………...... 9

1.2 Marshall McLuhan’s communication theory……………………...………….11

1.3 ’s communication theory………...... 14

1.4 mediated communication (CMC) theory……...………………...... 15

1.5 The type of society new devices as create………....16

CHAPTER 2 HISTORY OF SMARTPHONES ……………………………………….…....18

2.1 What is a , what is an application? …………………….………...18

2.2 Evolution of smartphones……………………………………………………....19

2.3 Differences between usage of smartphones in the past years and nowadays.22

CHAPTER 3 INFLUENCE OF SMARTPHONES AND ITS APPLICATION ON

ADOLESCENTS…………………………………………………………………25

3.1 How smartphones and its application influence communication …...... 25

3.2 How adolescents use smartphones……………………………..…..…………...27

3.3 What are the main activities on smartphones…………………………………27

CHAPTER 4 SOCIAL NETWORKS………………………………...………………………...29

4.1 History of social networks………………………………………...…………….29

4.2 Social networks……………………………………………..……………………30

CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH IN SLOVAKIA ……………………………………………...…...32

5.1 Introduction……………………………....……………………………………...32

5.2 Purpose of study ………….………………………………..……………………33

5.3 Methodology…………………………………………………..………………....34

5.4 Participants…………………………………………………..…………………..35

5.5 Instrumentation………………………………………………..………………...35

5.6 Collection……………………………………………………………..…...36

5.7 Results…………………………………………………………….……………..37

5.8 Discussion…………………………………………………………………….....39

CHAPTER 6 POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF SMARTPHONES AND ITS

APPLICATIONS ON ADOLESCENTS COMMUNICATION………...... 40

6.1 Positive effects of smartphones on communication………………………...... 40

6.2 Negative effects of smartphones on communication……………...…………..43

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION………………...………………………………………………..46

APENDIX………………………………………………………………………...…………...…..49

WORKS CITED…………………………………………………………………………..……...61

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………...…………………....64

ABSTRACT

Quick evolution of new technology devices leads to the fact that communication between new generations is more often dependent on technology devices that change the communication of adolescents completely. Classical face-to-face communication is replaced by more popular computer mediated communication, which not only influences communication but also whole interaction of adolescents. together with social networks, the most famous applications currently downloaded to smartphones, are the main reasons of the grave change in communication. Adolescents in Slovakia spend considerable amount of time by interacting and communicating online, leading to computer-mediated communication becoming more frequent than the face-to-face interaction. Based on the results, online communication creates safe environment for adolescents and allows them to be able communicate with friend over long distances, that this kind of communication is improving their relationships in terms of frequency of communication.

Part of the thesis is focused on an original research conducted in Slovakia, analyzing the use of smartphones by adolescents. The purpose of the research was to shed light on possible differences between what is generally known about modern technology gadgets’ usage and the actual situation in a small CEE country Slovakia is. The results showed that the globalized world possibly brings the way of utilizing devices such as smartphones to a level that does not vary among nationalities. The implications are further discussed in the paper. Along with the of new technology, we should understand that not only positives are provided to us. We need to recognize and be aware of the fact that

can also bring the harms and risks for new young generations, and parents shall be well informed and not let their children be freely exposed to these risks.

Introduction

Modern quick and often stressful makes people live, work and communicate in ways greatly different from ever before. We live at times when stress becomes almost a natural part of and we often have to accept it. We also attempt to simplify many activities by using new . After all, technologies are one of the fields that have been helping us this way substantially. They have been developing very quickly, and every year there are innovations for new devices that become useful in many different fields, actually influencing our existence. Going past in history to the Marshall McLuhan’s theory of communication, we might agree with his predictions. His theory of communication describes the understanding of and its impact on and society. His predictions asserted years ago are happening right now within our society.

People think and interact differently through utilizing the electronic technology.

Smartphones are one of those devices that became the number one tool in this sense, as the usage is very simple, quick and helps people solve many kinds of problems easily. They could be considered small because their functions actually fulfill that description. These technology gadgets are no longer than 8-10 years available on the market, if we consider the ones that are seriously comparable with computers such as iPhone or newest Android models. In 2007, the first iPhone was launched and since then average consumers became hooked on similar devices. If we look at our society, especially at adolescents, we could easily say that their interpersonal and group communication and interaction have been altered by these changes remarkably, exactly as McLuhan

6 communication theory predicted. New devices allow people to communicate through word of mouth that could be compared with classical as well as let them use the written word in text messages. Combined with that, the connection to the internet is another reason why they became so popular.

Smartphones became a part of ourselves, because we use all mentioned appliances as our planners, dictionaries, calendars, notes, and more; they are able to tell us what we have to do in a particular time, making remembering anything by ourselves irrelevant if we wish so. Important to mention are also the applications - apps - through which adolescents, as well as other smartphone users, are able to find anything they need, use communication in different ways, edit pictures and , browse the internet and more. There is the possibility to find applications of any kind of interest; they seem almost unlimited in the category range. Some of them are for free, many can be quite expensive. The application development is now a prevalent opportunity for a reason. Since people are able to use these technology devices in many ways for different purposes, however, it also carries the of having many negative effects.

The problematic of effects of these devices on people are among the most commonly discussed topics in the world. If we look at this problem from the point of impact that smartphones have on adolescents, we can see possibly even unexpected results. There has been a lot of researches done on adolescents, which were focusing on the impact of smartphones and other electronic devices. There is a question if these new technology gadgets have been influencing people in a good or bad way. From the communication point of view, we could consider the change in our lives specifically in the way we communicate, as our communication became more effective and quicker, possibly creating a positive

7 effect. Another positive effect would be that since people have smartphones almost always within their reach, they are able to communicate and interact with the world constantly and almost for free in terms of the cheap access to the internet. Smartphones allow us to solve more problems at the same time as well as give us the opportunity to be at the same time in many different places.

This mostly influences the younger generations, especially adolescents, who became amazed by and addicted to smartphones. That might be the negative effect of these new technology devices. They see the power of social networks, which are now available, easily reachable and possibly very addictive. There are different ways how to use smartphones, notable for instance among genders. Functions such as , photos and the use of social network became highly popular for girls who like to document their lifestyles (Park & Lee,

2014). Boys are most likely to use these devices for videos, GPS and social networks. These gender differences emerge from the fact that there are differences between girl and boys in terms of their social activities and psychological profiles. Since adolescents have started to interact with smartphones, it was discovered that their leisure time has been adapted to the amount of time they spend online. Further, the verbal communication has been changed due to texting. Texting is a quick procedure, which is one of the favorite concepts of modern communication of adolescents. Notable the usage of slang and shortened version of words is part of the impact of quick and viral communication. The purpose of this paper is to explore how new technology devices and their application influences the of new generation of adolescents. Further, through original research made on adolescents in Slovakia, it is discussed what is the situation of that particular topic in a small country that Slovakia is.

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The purpose of the research on adolescents from Slovakia points to the fact that these teenagers are online most of the time and the non-verbal communication - “picture communication” - became so popular that verbal communication is sometimes taking place as additional communication. There was discovered that adolescents consider smartphones as their everyday life tool which is helping them communicate faster and more effectively, and search for the they need much more easily. They perceive these new technology devices as a part of their life, without which they might become even lost.

CHAPTER 1

COMMUNICATION THEORIES

1.1 Communication Theory

“Communication,” a well-known word, whose meaning became important for society’s interaction, is related the terms “communion” and “community.” The origins of the word

‘‘communication’’ comes from the Latin word communicare that means “to make common” (Weekley, 1967,) or “to share.” Based on DeVito’s (1986) claim, communication is “the process or act of transmitting a message from a to a receiver, through a channel and with the interference of noise”. These three essential parts of communication are the Sender, Receiver and Channel. All are crucial in the way each message is perceived.

Another important term, which will be used a lot in this paper, is the term message, which is a “signal or combination of signals that serves as a stimulus for a receiver (DeVito,

1986)”. Message can have varying forms; it can be a , sign or a spoken version. Due

9 to the fact that my topic focus is smartphones and the communication through them, I will concentrate on the aspect that information is transferred mostly through verbal communication. Transferring information verbally, vocally or the usage of a written word is all considered verbal communication. This type of communication can be divided into two sections: oral communication and written communication. New technology devices such as smartphones basically allow people to communicate in both ways because users are able to use word of mouth to send their message to the receiver (which is consider an oral communication) as well as use of written word via text messages (which would be an example of written communication).

A Model of Communication

The which were written by McQuail and Windahl, ‘‘simplify reality, select key elements, and indicate relationship’’ (McQuail & Windahl, 1989) of how communication works. In the illustration, we can easily see how the connections sender - object/message - receiver work.

Letter A in this case represent the object/message, which is going to be sent. B represents some sense through which the message reaches the observer. It can be a different visual

10 aural or other sense. Letter C stands for the sender who is an observer of the message and who will push the message to the receiver. Finally, the most interesting letter of my topic, the letter D represents the channel through which the information will be sent. In my case, it is a smartphone. Even if the topic is smartphones themselves, it can be divided to different types of sub channels by which the message will be sent. Social networks or generally computer mediated communication, which is based on the internet connection, phone calls, and text messages are all possible options for smartphones. The last letter in the illustration is the letter E, which logically stands for the receiver, as the last part of communication process.

Due to the fact that this process is same in any type of communication, it is easy to comprehend that smartphone communication, or communication through new technology devices in general, is based on the same principles as any other type of communication.

Differences are only in the aspect that this new communication is managed online, which means that sometimes, if we use texting as our way of communication, we are losing the face to face contact that might make a difference in the message comprehension.

1.2 Marshall McLuhan’s theory of communication

A Canadian scholar and philosopher of the communication theory, who was focused on the problematics of electronic media and communication, is well-known Marshall McLuhan.

He is a holder of a big name in the communication field due to, among other contributions, his specific terms, such as “the medium is the message”, which stands for the idea that perception of our understanding of the message depends on the medium, through which the

11 message is sent. Another popular term would be the “” that describes ‘‘how the globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology’’ (McLuhan & Lapham,

2003). Nowadays, the global village stands for or considers the .

Important to mention also is that this person predicted in his theory something happening right now. The new technology devices and internet could be considered a point of view of the McLuhan’s theory, because with the arrival of internet his perspective and theory have been renewed.

Marshall McLuhan’s theory of communication specialized on the understanding of electronic media and their impact on culture and society. His theory can be simplified to a collection of different curious ideas, which stick together by some common assumption.

However, the idea “that changes in communication technology inevitably produce profound changes in both culture and social order” is considered as a central assumption of the theory

(“Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is the Message and Massage”).

To understand his theory deeper, it is important to mention that there was no connection between the theory and political or social movements. He was following any movements which were connected to changes in communication technology (“Marshall McLuhan:The

Medium Is the Message and Massage”). He called himself a technological determinist, because most of his work argues for the conviction that technology indispensable causes the changes in how people think and how society is structured.

This theoretician, who stands behind his own communication theory, became very popular among people and many schools; teachers embraced his theory as the one, by which to teach the new generations about communication. If we look into details of his theory, we can see connections between the theory of electronic devices and their influence on

12 people’s thinking, behavior and interaction. This could be seen as an overall impact of new technology on people communication even nowadays. Our contemporary society greatly considers the theory again because the impact of new technology devices such as computers, smartphones and others affect us in enormous ways. The society has been changed through technology development.

What we should be addressed along with the Marshall McLuhan’s theory of communication is term tetrad. In the general meaning, the word tetrad represents any picture of 4 things connected (“McLuhan’s tetrads: What they are and how they work,”

2011). We can connect it to Marshall McLuhan and his tetrad of media effects, which consists of four effects on society that are caused by any technology. His tetrad is made of four questions: What does the medium enhance? What does the medium make obsolete?

What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier? What does the medium flip into when pushed to extremes?

In the two illustrations placed above we can easily see how the McLuhan’s tetrad works and looks like. The first illustration is only a basic example of what we can imagine in

13 every part of the tetrad that is influenced by any technology tool. The other illustration placed on the right side is already applied to cell phones/smartphones and their impact.

1.3 Harold Innis’s theory of communication

The roles of media and technology shape the society and its culture. This was an opinion of another Canadian professor, who was interested in communication theories. Harold Innis claimed that the development of communication media is the key factor of social changes

(Innis, 1951). He became an important figure in the field of communication, and influenced others such as Marshall McLuhan by his theory. The objective of his study was to apply two different dimensions to media; the time dimension and space dimension.

Time-biased media are supposed to be the ones, which carry a message from generation to generation with limited (Innis, 1951). This group includes clay, poems or hand- copies that are sources that leave messages for generations to come. However, interesting for this paper about new technology devices is the other group, which is the space-biased media. Space-biased media are modern media such as , , and nowadays also the internet and smartphones that are carrying messages to many of people through long distance. Compared with time-biased media, they have the effect of creating a short term message. People easy forget the message because there is a quantum of messages that are coming in at the same time.

Innis sees technology and society somehow connected together, while mutually influencing one another. Our media operate with already existing situations and work on the basis that is allowed to them which means that they create new cycle of change (Innis, 1951). In this

14 case, we can see that Harold Innis was a person who believed that power that is implied to communication technologies shapes our culture. Therefore, he could be seen as a technological realist. He concludes that the "relative emphasis on time or space will imply a of significance to the culture in which it is embedded" (Innis, 1951).

1.4 Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) theory

If we look at our society nowadays, we can easily recognize that social interaction between people is influenced in a huge manner by new technology devices. This is exactly the part of the computer mediated communication theory which asserts that CMC or Computer

Mediated Communication can simply be explained as a transaction between two or more networks like chartrooms, e-mails, WhatsApp or other Social Networking Sites, text messages, etc. (“Computer Mediated Communication, Communication Theory”). This growing topic has been talked about and argued by theorist and scholar Joseph Walther, who is an author of social information processing theory that was introduced by him in

1992. Walther’s social information processing theory describes interpersonal communication that allocates how people get know each other while being online through different technology devices and applications. Development through computer-mediated communication depends on the specific time and application that are available in the particular device for communication. The lack of that is provided by computer-mediated communication means that this kind of communication contains less information in comparison with classical face-to-face communication; however, Walther’s social information processing theory asserts that this type of communication is more

15 frequent than classical face-to-face communication. Joseph Walther is also a developer of hyper personal model of communication, which notes that computer-mediated communication evokes more emotions and affection in comparison to the same situation managed via face-to-face communication (Walther, 1996). Hyper personal model foretells that in less rich media, which are the ones through which communication takes a longer time to be understood, the message are perceived as less rich, allowing more satisfying level of interaction than face-to-face communication (Dennis, Fuller, & Valacich, 2008).

The role played by computer-mediated communication has increased, and is still on the rise, transforming every single life that it touches, effecting individuals in both positive and negative ways. Due to the fact that this multifaceted medium (CMC) uses internet as a main tool of , it subsequently leads us to the impact and dependence on this type of medium in ways affecting human minds. We may also see that society, mostly new generation of adolescents, considers smartphones as a technology device that is necessary for their lives. The fact that smartphones are basically a specific type of a computer gives solid basis for the mentioned discussed theories. Computer mediated communication is considered as an effective type of communication; however, as was mentioned before, it has some negative effects as well as positive ones.

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1.5 The type of society which new technology devices such as a smartphones create

The evolution of communication led modern societies to primarily interact via electronic devices, and use them as a medium much more often than in previous years. This causes a huge impact on the new pattern of communication. Smartphones together with other technology devices provide every individual with the perks of quick communication, which is partly why smartphones gained on popularity to the point where they are considered the most commonly used channel of communication among people. They can be considered as some kind of liberation, and they fulfill different needs of individuals. Not only adolescents claim that smartphones are not only devices which make their communication easier, but they also let them be more effective and quicker in educational way, since web browsing makes it possible to find information in any particular moment. Further about the topic of computer-mediated communications, which is provided by smartphones as well, this medium covers almost everything relevant to the scope of this paper. There are many different interests of individuals that can easily be covered and found by these devices.

People have varying needs and interests, and it is not different in Slovakia. In this part of the world, it was discovered that adolescents use a lot of applications in the music, translators or different languages categories as well as application that are focusing on for instance (local as well as international ones). The actual access to social networks

(SNS) themselves plays a crucial role, as it allows users to connect with people in any other part of the world. One of the students mentioned that the most used applications in his smartphone are exactly ones that allow him to connect with his dad when he is away on a business trip. This can be considered an effective aspect of this kind of communication. In the last few years, the progress in technology created society that is dependent on internet

17 network, available through new devices. It affects our lives, especially adolescents’, who do not hide their personal information on various social networks, possibly causing harm to themselves sooner or later. On one hand, society is dependent on this kind of technology.

However, another important factor to mention is, that we feel as an independent society in the way we access information and use communication channels. New technology devices have created the society of absolute freedom. The term, as used within this essay, is meant as a feeling based on the perceived reality that we are able to get any information at any time. It is easily reachable through the mentioned appliances, because they allow us to communicate from one part of the world with the other part of the world in a matter of seconds.

CHAPTER 2

HISTORY OF SMARTPHONES

2.1 What is a smartphone, what is an application?

Smartphone is a new technology device, which has been developed from a .

It is able to operate wirelessly and is still traditional enough to be able to make a phone call.

Smartphones have the ability to operate sophisticated applications. It is an electronic appliance, which can be compared with computer because it has the ability to do many procedures as well as computer or, together with GPS (the Global Positioning System) even much more. It became one of the most useful tools of our lives because long-distance communication became much easier after the invention of this smart technology.

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Applications (Apps) are special pieces of that are able to be downloaded and cooperate with smartphones directly. Their functions are comparable with computer programs. These applications are available for free, and many of them are paid as well, opening completely new and profitable market of application development. They have a broad sphere of categorization, which means that people are able to find anything that interests them. Social networks, dictionaries or news are the most popular spheres

("Understanding Mobile Apps OnGuard Online," 2011).

2.2 Evolution of smartphones

The started to be written in 1878 when invented a first patent application for the device. Throughout the years, technology became more inventive, and finally in 1993, the first concept of a smartphone has been created.

IBM, who named it the Simon Personal Communication, invented it (“Alexander Graham

Bell - Phone and other inventions,” 2006). It was a telephone that had a monochrome touchscreen, antennae and a charging . This first smartphone was already clever enough to send and receive as well as . Successfully following the development,

Nokia brought its smartphone on the market in 1996, called Nokia 9000 Communicator.

This model already had navigation keys, outward facing dial pad and a monochromatic display. Nokia 9000 Communicator had a patent for opening the full Qwerty keyboard with physical navigation buttons (Taylor, 2014). As well as Simon, Nokia 9000 Communicator was capable to use email or as well as web browsing and spreadsheets. Considering the functions, which these were providing in that particular time, they would

19 definitely belong to the category of smartphones even now. However, the name smartphone became popular one year after the invention of Nokia 9000 Communicator, when Erickson invented their GS 88 concept known as Penelope. Penelope’s exterior appearance could be compared with Nokia 9000 Communicator because outward appearances were similar; however, this new model already included touchscreen, which was the main progress when compared to the telephones before.

Since every other developer mostly concentrated on the basic cell phone communication,

Japan became the first nation popularizing smartphone in the market place (Taylor, 2014).

They informed the market how new i-mode and networks were able to transmit information in a very short time with the speed of 9.6 Kbs. In 1999, the BlackBerry 850 came to the market, followed by many other companies such as a Nokia or , who both designed similar models. These smartphones were heavily focused on email, fax, web browsing and other enterprise-centric features. Years between 2000 and 2006 could be considered as faulty in the cell phone evolution, as cell phone manufacturers started to explore huge amounts of different types of functions for smartphones, such as sliding and flipping keyboards, rotating display, wafer-style phones with display placed above permanent vertical keyboards, and other models with multiple keyboards and resistive touchscreens. These years when manufacturers Motorola, Palm, HTC, HP, , Nokia and others build their names for themselves became crucial. Due to this fact, other companies were crushed by the situation in the market and later more or less forced out of the competition (Taylor, 2014). Danger Hiptop was a smartphone considered as the most memorable one of the era. It became popular because of his java-based DangerOS and its quick text-based communication, which was named instant messaging and became well-

20 known as an Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and MNS Messenger. Its display emerged from the center of the phone, where the keyboard was situated. This smartphone device was recognizable all over the world as the messenger.

Between 2004 and 2007, it was discovered that there was a huge rise in the usage of smartphones. Instead of the usage as a device for communication through email and similar applications, it was discovered that smartphones became mostly used for correspondence and light Web browsing on the train (Taylor, 2014). With the introduction of the new iPhone, it was all set to change once more. In January 2007, the first iPhone was launched and Apple’s idea was to create a new technology device, the actual smartphone, which would be a combination of variety of multimedia functions with the same email and browsing features that all other smartphones already had had. IPhone as a product became popular in a matter of minutes because of its big colorful display and finally a fingers- friendly touchscreen/interface. It had only four buttons on its body: the home button, which was main button in the middle of the lower part to manage manipulation with the smartphone, and other three buttons around its edges, with two controlling and one set for manipulation of power/standby. The first iPhone was operating with the iOS system, as they do nowadays. It was very simple iOS system but people had to get used to work with this new technology at first, slowly building a customer base for the company. In

September 2008, Google announced their Android OS , which was used by HTC. After the invention of these two new operating systems, there were altogether following leaders of the market: Symbian, BlackBerry OS, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, web OS, making up together seven major mobile system. By the year 2012, Symbian disappeared from the market, Windows Mobile together with Palm OS were superseded by

21 the web OS, and Windows Phone and BlackBerry stayed in the market with their popularity dramatically decreased (Taylor, 2014). Android together with iOS became the kings of the market. After the invention of these two powerful , smartphones originally designed with physical keyboard have been pushed from the market as well. All new smartphones started to be more dependent on the touchscreen. Nowadays, these two softwares are competing with each other solemnly.

2.3 Differences between usage of smartphones in past years and nowadays

If we look at the past, a few years ago we would have definitely mentioned that our technology has been developed a lot corresponding to communication. Interactions between people came to the point when no one usually needs mutual face-to-face communication.

New technology devices came quickly to our lives, and we started to interact with them quickly as well. People began using all their advantages to make lives easier not only in terms of communication but overall customization of the technology experience. It influences all generations now; however, those most influenced by the new technology era are young generations, to whom smartphones are a tool of an everyday need. If we look at the past, only ten years ago we would see that purpose and usage of cell phone were tremendously different in comparison with the current situation.

Speaking from the scientific point of view, then a perpetuity in the point of development of the products can be observed. Back in the year 2004, iOS and Android OS, two main operating platforms, that are dominant in the market nowadays, did not exist. Under the

22 name cell phone people understood a technology device capable of communicating with another person through phone calls or text messages, which had limited number of letters used. Old-fashioned cell phones presented with already developed color touchscreen display were in that particular time the devices that had many useful functions; however, these were still not comparable to computers. These technology devices were featured with full Qwerty keyboards and some of them were already based on the slider technology. They already had Wi-Fi and a camera in the back and also some amount of internal memory.

Calendar, planner, alarm, photos, messenger, calls, and Wi-Fi were the functions enabling users to use the technology efficiently. Compared to the current situation, it also means that these smartphones were more useful for phone-call communication or texting; however, they had yet to play a crucial role in people’s lives. Adolescents were not influenced by these arguably old fashioned smartphones as much as nowadays, because they were used mostly for phone-call interactions between them and another person.

In our contemporary fast and stressful lifestyle, smartphones do play a crucial role. Only a few years ago, no one knew what the word application meant, or what was or would be

WhatsApp, , , Viber, Snap chat and others. Most people did not think that in such a short time technology would change in similarly radical way. Since 2007, when the first iPhone and its iOS operating system together with Android operating system were invented, our perception about smartphones has changed. These new technology devices almost replace computers because their functions and applications allow people to communicate with others at any moment from any place almost for free. Any kinds of interest – , , dictionary, cooking classes, and all other different hobbies – have now some sort of application. New generations, especially adolescents, are affected by

23 smartphones more than anyone else. Communication in their case is changing from vocal to photo communication. In addition, the language is being altered, as seen on the fact that slang became more popular and shortened versions of words – such as OK, Hm,

Yop, Wow,  and others – are nowadays most common words used by adolescents. On the other hand, communication became easier and more effective. Functions that differ from classical cellphones are for example:

› A calendar that provides functions for entering and appointments directly to

it, with the possibility of synchronization with personal online-calendar.

› Address (contact) allowing adding, deleting, and editing all the contacts

similarly like on a computer. In the case of communication with a new contact, the

phone itself will prompt you to add this number to one’s database.

› Music/ players are developed with clear viewing screens and with the option

for recording videos with or without sound. These new smartphones similarly offer

mp3 players which are able to store music, edit it, rate it, categorize it, etc.

and email now work on a similar basis like on computers. Web

browsers and Wi-Fi access are now a must. Voice activated dialing, based on the

voice and recognition of certain words, enables smartphones to automatically search

for a contact within one’s database and dial it.

› GPS or Global Positioning System would be another important function that plays

an important role in people’s lives. Smartphone is now able to detect one’s specific

location via satellites and lead one to his or her desired destination.

› Other important features, which smartphones are able to utilize, are the shortly

called “Apps”- applications. As was mentioned before, an application is a function

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comparable with computer programs. These applications are available for free but

many of them are paid as well, opening completely new and profitable market of

application development. They have a broad sphere of categorization, which means

that people are able to find anything that interests them. Social networks,

dictionaries or news are among the most popular spheres.

CHAPTER 3

INFLUENCE OF SMARTPHONES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS ON ADOLESCENTS

3.1 How do smartphones and their application influence communication

Relationship between adolescents and new technology is nothing new in contemporary life.

It is all influenced by the impact of fast development of the technology. Families are using technology gadgets every day. Parents are naturally the role models of adolescents that become better informed and easiest to interact with nowadays with the new technology than their parents and older generations did. More and more adolescents use smartphone as an everyday tool and to be online, which means to be active in a particular activity through technology devices such as smartphones using an access to internet or data. It is something what we could consider as a normal in this time. We see more often that being online does not mean only to communicate, but it is used as well for purposes of socializing, learning, playing, listening or participating in all sorts of activities.

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Only 10-12 years ago we remember the time when our communication was dependent on the face-to-face communication. Adolescents discussed their problems, experiences or homework in the period of the time when they were physically at school, or during some kind of activity with others. There were no other technology devices, social networks that would allow adolescents to be online 24 hours per day. To communicate after school was not so common because there were not devices that would let people be reachable everywhere. Telephone was used mostly for the purpose of being in contact with one’s family, and actually not all young people owned mobile phone at that time. Nowadays, it seems more and more normal. At that time, the house phone was also very common, which was used by all family members. Another important fact to mention is that adolescents had different interests; they were more physically active and they were more often participating in-group plays where the interpersonal communication was possible (Mascheroni &

Ólafsson, 2013). Although few years ago it might not have been particularly easy to communicate that effectively and quickly, people were communicating more actively at situations requiring interpersonal communication. Compared to contemporary generation, we may see adolescents walking around with smartphones or tablets in hands, which means that most of their leisure time is spent being online or at least not fully focused on the present. It is possible to be active in some kind of game, social network or educational program through different applications or internet in general of course; that is why the communication of new generation is changing. Reasons for this are arguable; however, we can say that adolescents do merely what technology allows them to do. We should consider that communication is easier nowadays because it might be more informal, meaning that through smartphones or other technology devices communication is more open; adolescents do not have to write grammatically correct and they can use slang commonly. This became

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highly widespread; we often have to adapt to it. Nowadays, even if we write an email to a

teacher, we do not have to be so careful about the correct outline or other features. As was

mentioned before, in many cases new technology is developing so quickly that the impact

on communication and interaction in the society is simply remarkable.

3.2 How adolescents use smartphones

If we look at the usage of smartphones from a general perspective of adolescents, we could see from many sources and researches that European kids use smartphones as a tool to get an access to Internet, social networks and different applications (Mascheroni & Ólafsson, 2013).

Consistent results are also measured in regard to the places from which all of the three areas listed are accessed. Most of adolescents, who use smartphones to be connected or online in their leisure time, are active at home, most likely from their own bedrooms. It can be connected to the possibility that their rooms evoke a certain kind of , which can make them feel relaxed and be able to search any type of information for different interests. Less often adolescents access the internet from other rooms. Third option is accessing the internet through smartphones at schools or other public places. What I discovered from my own research was the fact that adolescents connect to the internet most likely through smartphones in comparison to the other technology devices such as a computers or tablets. This was proven by other research made on European adolescents from different countries (Mascheroni &

Ólafsson, 2013).

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3.3 The main activities on smartphones

During to Net Research Go Mobile that was made for the purpose of discovering how mobile European children are, the main activities that are sought most often by adolescents on the electronic devices such as smartphones were discovered (Mascheroni & Ólafsson,

2013). One section of the research was concentrating to understand what the range of online activities is and how it is connected with commonplace activities. Other reason was to understand the level of opportunities and risks of harm coming from these activities.

In top 10 online activities that were shown in the research, social networking was on the first place, with 58% of surveyed adolescents visiting their profiles or other social network sites or instant messaging once or more times during the day (Mascheroni & Ólafsson,

2013). This fact was measured by the overall research of usage of different technology devices. It was also claimed that smartphone users interact on social networks in higher percentage than non-smartphone users. This trend actually repeats in any other activity that will be mentioned further. Another important or common activities on the electronic devices such as smartphones were listening to music and watching video clips, which is actually very common activity because adolescents do not need any other devices to search for music or videos. Smartphones already substitutes all devices that were before assigned for listening to music. Searching for school is important as well, as it was in top five activities because smartphones allow young people access any sort of information about potential educational as well as reviews from current students. Playing games or watching movies through smartphones belong to the top 10 popular activities. It was also discovered by the research that activities such as uploading and sharing pictures or videos is considered as activities with increasing growth rate during the last few years, while the

28

usage of internet for schoolwork through smartphones or playing the games are decreasing.

Other activities, such as watching news or the usage of translators became more popular as

well. Adolescents who use smartphones to go online more often engage with app store,

where they download applications for different purposes.

European adolescents own and interact online through social networks, listen music or

search for information relevant to schools using smartphones more often than any other

technology devices. Being social, socializing through social networks through smartphones

is the most popular activity of European adolescents (Mascheroni & Ólafsson, 2013). Due

to the fact that smartphones allow their users to be online anytime at any place, it increases

the connections between the intensity of smartphone usage, being online and the

experiences gained through these technology devices.

CHAPTER 4

SOCIAL NETWORKS

4.1 History of social networks

Social networks as we know them, the modern invention, have origins in the past as everything. Even if not in the same meaning, the term social network comes from the word socializing, which means to build the personality of the person, his thoughts, feelings, behaviors and keep connections between people (Bitto, 2007). During the past years, due to the fact that the Internet did not exist yet, people socialized through face-to-face communication and interaction. However, the end of the 90s played a crucial role in the

29 social revolution, which was the time of rise of the Internet. We can see that the purpose of

Internet at that time was different from the current situation. It was invented for army purposes, to be connected with other military bases and gain important information. In 1991, last (third) phase of invention of the internet started, which brought it more commercial purposes, and regular people started to interact and use it for their needs and communication

(Bitto, 2007). The beginning of social networks or the first form of social networks appeared as a BBS (or Bulletin Broad System) which was a form of online meeting place that allowed users to communicate with central system, from which they downloaded files or games as well as and messaged the other users ("The History of Social Networking," 2014). The social networking’s boom came later with Classmates.com, a network through which it was possible to interact with a specific person. This social network did not allow users to create their own profile, but SixDegrees.com that became known in 1997 already had this feature.

This social network also allowed people to invite friends to their profile, organize groups and see profiles of others ("The History of Social Networking," 2014). In 2002 and 2003, there was another invention of other social networks such as Friendster, LinkedIn and Myspace, which were already on a higher level in terms of communication and user experience. Every person was able to share personal information, hobbies and utilize communication needs through these social networks; it became simple. Facebook, which was invented in 2007, became one of the most favorite and crucial social networks, and it still belongs among them nowadays. Together with other popular social networks or communication channels, such as

WhatsApp, Instagram, Viber or Skype, they create a new era of communication that influenced especially adolescents who often did not experience life without these platforms.

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4.2 Social networks

Social networks are among the most frequent activities nowadays, becoming popular and important channel and source of communication. Access to these communication networks is enabled by new technology devices, most commonly through smartphones (Mascheroni

& Ólafsson, 2013). Social networks became an important source of our everyday interaction and communication with society. The most favorite one according to my research is Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Social networks have many different definitions from author to author, but according to dictionary, social networks are communities of people or different groups who are connected together through some online communication site (“social networks”). Through mutual interaction they influence each other. It is a place where any individual is able to share his or her personal information and life activity.

Facebook, the most famous social network over the world became popular straight after its introduction. There is no difference in the age of users this way, because it became sought- after-site for all age categories. It is a channel of easy communication, where people are able to share their personal information as well as their interests and lifestyle. Facebook was invented by Mark Zuckerberg who did not even think of the popularity that Facebook has nowadays (Mezrich, 2009).

Instagram, a simple application that is possible to be accessed through any technology device that has an internet, with another (and most frequent) option being downloading it directly to phone as an application. This communication network basically works as a visual communicational channel. People are able to communicate through their images or

31 videos, which they post on their profiles. Mass of people, even unknown to each other, has the ability to comment under pictures and start to communicate. A person receiving likes or comments can share or follow the others, creating new ways and patterns of specific communication. This differ from Facebook and WhatsApp in the way that there is no specific feature only for communication; however, Instagram is one of the favorite communication tools due to the fact that images might make the communication more appealing.

WhatsApp is a simple application that is able to be installed on the smartphone with the purpose of straight and quick communication with another person or groups of people. This application allows people to communicate through text messages, voice recordings or via the sending of photos or videos, which is popular as well. People are able, as in the case of

Facebook, post their location while communicating. Compared to Facebook, this application is simpler but actually more effective in term of easiness of communication.

CHAPTER 5

RESEARCH IN SLOVAKIA

5.1 Introduction

The adults and parents of young people and children in Slovakia should be well informed about the risks and harms of these new technology devices. These can be faced through smartphone usage by adolescent, as there is an evidence that ‘‘when parents actively mediate their child’s Internet use, this too is associated with lower risk and, most important, lower harm. However, parental active mediation of use is linked to more (not fewer) online

32 activities and skills.’’ (Dürager & Livingstone, 2012). I should mention that new technology devices influence the communication of adolescent in terms of the face-to-face communication as well, making it less common.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the time being spent together in terms of social interaction on social networks done through smartphones by adolescents in Slovakia. The study is based on an original research, during which data were collected through survey among elementary and high school students – frequent smartphone users in Slovakia (N =

40). The study primarily focuses on how much time adolescents spent being online on social networks through technology devices such as smartphones in comparison with the time spent by typical face-to-face interactions. I wanted to see how the trends connected to new technology devices and their applications influence adolescents’ interaction and communication in such a small European country Slovakia certainly is. Is there a correlation between time spent chatting on smartphone and the time spent on face-to-face interaction? At the end of the study, I will summarize how it influences the communication of adolescents and their interactions.

5.2 Purpose of study

The purpose of this research was to explore what is the relationship of Slovak adolescents and smartphones. Are these new technology devices perceived as a number one tool of communication in terms of spending time being online? Discover how these technology devices influence our communication in term of time spent on smartphones was the main point of the survey. This research was designed to inform other adolescents and their

33 parents and teachers how the communication has changed over time as well as address the fact that even small countries such as Slovakia already developed at the new digital era, being able to accept the changes as a part of globalization and digital development.

Research questions

Is face-to-face interaction correlated with phone usage?

Is phone usage correlated with time spent on social networks on the phone?

Is phone usage influenced by gender?

5.3 Methodology / Research Design

This research used qualitative and quantitative research methods together with exploratory research practices, which were be further used to construct the survey and better understand the topic and results. The research is going to explain and explore the thesis topic, particularly how new technology devices influence adolescents’ communication and interaction.

Questionnaires with close-ended questions were used to collect relevant and specific answers from participants. There were also open-ended questions as well, since the research was partly qualitative in nature. The variables that will be shown in the research are:

34

› Independent variable – gender is the independent variable to signify differences

between genders

› Dependent variable – the time spent on face to face interaction and the time spent

on social network on smartphones

5.4 Participants

There were 40 participants from Slovakia engaging in the research study.

The participants of this research study were students of both genders from two different schools in Slovakia. My sampling of participants is not randomized; they were a representative sample of both elementary and high schools. One part were the 9th grade students of an elementary school in Slovakia, and the other were 1st grade students of a high school in Slovakia. I decided to have these specific students in my research because I wanted to measure participants with similar age from the range of 13 to 19 years old people

– the adolescents. The age was M = 14.88, with the SD = 0.853. There were 42.5 percent of participants who were 14 years old, 27.5 percent of participants at the age of 15 years, and

30 percent were 16 years old participants. There were 18 male participants, who consisted of 45 percent portion of the gender distribution, and there were 22 females who represented

55 percent of the gender distribution in the research. Two different schools in the study should lead to more relevant research results due to the advantage of sampling participants from different environments. These information are stated in (APPENDIX, Table 14,16)

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5.5 Instrumentation

A researcher constructed the questionnaire, for the purpose to explore research questions that are the main reason of research. This questionnaire was created on our own, even though the inspiration was taken from other already existing questionnaires that had been used in different countries for similar purposes. Questionnaire that was used for our research was based on close-ended questions together with open questions. In addition, it was simple and easily understandable for given age group, making the research reliable, and during the time that teenagers were answering the questions, researcher was present in case of some difficulties. This all shall be a proof of the reliability of the research.

Questionnaire was given to students at particular times and results were explored soon after, supporting the validity of the whole process.

5.6 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures

Instruments together with data were collected through mentioned surveys that were given to students personally at schools during classes. The survey was given to students by teachers, who collected them right after student answered. Students were answering the survey as an individuals in order to make sure the environment supported the provision of an unbiased opinion.

Result analysis was made after collection of the surveys through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, which focused especially on the time spent interacting on

36 social networks through smartphones in comparison with face-to-face communication. The areas explored were mainly whether this type of new communication is used more often than regular face-to-face communication, and what is the correlation between these two.

Inferential statistics were used (Pierson’s or Spearman’s correlation index together with t- test or ANOVA).

5.7 Results

Due to the fact that this research was both quantitative and qualitative, the first part will be described initially (the quantitative results), and later the analysis will continue with the second part (the qualitative results). I was observing if there was some correlation between spent online on smartphones compared to the time spent using face-to-face communication. I was also focusing on the aspect of whether the time spent on smartphone has some connection with time spent by being online on social networks.

The methods that were used in this research were suitable, but there was no correlation either any statistical significant difference using frequencies with chi-square. However, I found a correlation between the time spent on smartphones and time spent on social networks.

There was a mentioned minimum limit of age in this research – 14 years – and a maximum limit – 16 years. From general point of view, there was a maximum of 6 hours spent by adolescents engaging in face-to-face communication with others, and the maximum time spent on smartphones was 12 hours in comparison. Out of the 12 hours, 8 were spent on . These information are stated in (APPENDIX, Table 16)

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It was discovered that there was not a statistical significant positive correlation between time spent on smartphone and time spent engaging in face to face interactions, with rs (38)

= .096, p = .558. Therefore, we cannot reject the null hypothesis that states that there is no correlation between time spent on smartphone and time spent engaging in face to face interactions. It was discovered that there was a significant positive correlation between the time spent on a smartphone and time spent on social networks on the smartphone, with rs

(38) = .676, p < .01. These information are stated in (APPENDIX, Table 1,2)

Therefore, we can reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis that states that there is a correlation between time spent on a smartphone and time spent on social networks on the smartphone. A Mann-Whitney U test was run to determine if there were differences in phone usage between males and females. Phone usage for males (mean rank

= 15.92) and females (mean rank = 24.25) were statistically significantly different, with U

(n=40) = 115.5, z = -2.31, p = .021-

These information are stated in (APPENDIX, Table 4)

Based on the qualitative results, 38 participants out of 40 owned a smartphone, which means 95% in comparison with 2 participants who owned cellphone (5% of the measured population). 27 (67.5%) of participants used smartphones for social networking on

Facebook, Instagram and other sites, 7 (17.5%) use smartphones mostly for Internet search, and other 6 (15%) of the participants still prefer to use smartphone for calling or messaging. Main communication channel of a smartphone is the communication through

38 social network. It was discovered that 26 (65%) of participants prefer to communicate through social networks, compared to 10 (25%) who like to communicate through text messages, and 4 (10%) who prefer phone calls. In term of Internet access, it was discovered that 21 (52.5%) participants of the measured population use smartphones as a tool to access the internet, 13 (32.5%) like to access internet through computer and 6 (15%) prefer tablet.

30 (75%) participants download new applications to their smartphones, compared to 10

(25%) students who do not do so. Important to address is also the fact that 40 (100%) of them, which mean all of them, consider smartphones important and they cannot imagine not having one (at least eventually).

These information are stated in (APPENDIX, Table 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12)

5.8 Discussion

The finding that adolescents in Slovakia use smartphones and their applications such as social networks for communication more often than classical face-to-face communication might be caused by the overall evolution of smartphones and the impact of electronic media on our society (McLuhan, 2003). Using smartphones, internet and their applications, adolescents are able to interact any time from any place, which leads to the devices becoming an important part of their lives. Based on the results of the research, we may see that smartphones are considered as communication tools, and that adolescent cannot imagine being without them (McLuhan, 2003). Social networks usage is among the most favorite activities that are accessed through smartphones (Mascheroni & Ólafsson, 2013).

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As was mentioned, adolescents access the Internet most often through smartphones in comparison with other technology devices such as computers and tables. According to my hypothesis: there is a correlation between the time spent on a smartphone and the time spent on social networks accessed from the smartphone, which means that social network are among the most important applications or perhaps the main reason to spend time on a smartphone in general.

CHAPTER 6

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF SMARTPHONES ANT ITS APPLICATIONS ON ADOLESCENTS

In the beginning of this chapter I should mention that contemporary environment has influence on the reshaping of children’s lives. The interaction is always for either better or worse no matter where they live – Slovakia included.

6.1 Positive effects

If we would concentrate only on the fact that new technology gadgets together with new communication channels such as social networks influence our society and mostly adolescents, we would have to consider that communication is much easier because information spreads faster through social media than through any other media (“Computer

40

Mediated Communication, Communication Theory”). In addition, the frequency of communication is higher in comparison with classical face-to-face communication, which could be seen as a positive effect of the new computer mediated communication. Most downloaded applications that often appear on any smartphone of contemporary adolescents are exactly social networks through which they communicate (“Are Social Networking

Sites Good for Our Society,” 2015). These applications are mostly used for communication between 2 or more individuals while featuring other useful aspects. They are also used as a source of new information from a particular country, even the whole world. Adolescents are able to receive any important news very quickly, leading to effective kind of communication as we mentioned in the beginning, because adolescents as well as other people are informed in a short period of time, and it allows them to as well react timely afterwards. They do not need to wait to get information by looking for some proper sources, because smartphone and its application allows them to find it in a matter of seconds. More than 50 percent of people learn about breaking news from social media

("Are Social Networking Sites Good for Our Society," 2015). The reason for this popularity lies in the fact that their smartphones inform them any time that something new happened.

What we could count as another positive effect of smartphones and their applications would be that students or adolescents use it as a tool for studying. 59 percent of students, that have applications for social networks or web browsers, use it to discuss there their topics for different assignments and projects, and it further tends to be a good source of information for their school work ("Are Social Networking Sites Good for Our Society," 2015). Since smartphone is a new technology device that allows people to interact through different applications, social networking sites allow people to improve their relationships as well as make new friends. In the chapter 4, where I was discussing social network applications

41 such as Instagram, I mentioned that every individual is able to follow and interact with any person interesting to him or her. That means that this kind of interaction allows people to find new friends or people they are somehow living the type of life that is similar to theirs.

There is also the possibility to be interacting 24 hour per day, allowing everyone to be in straight and persistent connection with others. Based on this fact that adolescents interact constantly together, it might create better and stronger relationships between them. There was discovered that more than 25 percent of adolescents report that communicating through social networks makes them feel less shy, more outgoing and that they feel more confident about themselves. Interesting fact to mention is that even adolescents who are less socially adept admit that social networks are the places where they find the friends because it is easier to communicate and they feel more comfortable ("Are Social Networking Sites Good for Our Society," 2015). According to my own research that was made in Slovakia, I discovered by asking them personal questions, whether they use social networks for communication over long distances. To my surprise, even young people such as adolescents are communicating with people they are in long distance relationships with on a daily basis. It was discovered that adolescent use smartphones and their applications such as social networks for communication with friends who live away from them, or with parents who for work reasons have to be at distant places. This could be considered as another positive aspect of these new technology devices, as it allows adolescents to be in contact with family relatives or friends any time from any place. That leads to what was mentioned before, that relationships or friendships between individuals might be stronger with communication more frequent between them. It even might have a positive impact on the fact that applications for example serve to teach different languages. After all, dictionaries have a big role in the phone because adolescents are able to easily translate any

42 text that is written in the other language they do not understand. This is another challenge and one of the ways how they even without thinking learn new languages. There is many different tasks surrounding the social networks which are written in other languages.

Music, that today’s young population listen to, is frequently sang in the English language as well, which might lead them to translate words that they do not understand.

6.2 Negative effects

Even though smartphones are devices that give every individual the opportunity to interact on a very high level in terms of communication and information receiving, the process of using them brings about possible negative effects as well. Even though smartphones themselves do not expose adolescents to any direct harm, the applications through which they interact on social networks and elsewhere do create this possibility. First important fact that can be considered from many points of view as a negative effect of new technology devices and their applications would be that the face-to-face communication is changing to online communication. Adolescents often and more comfortably choose this kind of communication because of its easy and quick usage. It might lead to them having access to less information from the other person, or can be perceived in a wrong sense, as they are meant by sender of message different. The absence of non-verbal aspect of communication in this case cannot be ignored after all. It can also lead to a problem with personal verbalization, becoming a problem when they for instance are to speak in front of an , because the communication online does not developing their verbal resources

43 fully. In the online type of communication, slang and shortened versions of words are used more often. Another risk that should be mentioned about interacting through social networks on smartphones is that adolescents create their own profiles, where they expose their personal information. That can carry not only cyber but potentially even physical risks if the information is abused by the wrong people. Even if adolescent do not perceive it as a risk, the free availability of user’s information and pictures can lead to online bullying or also called cyber bullying. Cyber bullying and harassment is considered the biggest online danger for adolescents (Livingstone, Haddon, Görzig, & Ólafsson, 2011). There exists the term online predator, which means an adult who interacts online and harasses and stalks someone more vulnerable ("Online Predators” 2006). Becoming a victim is as easy as it is unfortunate. According to “Risk and Safety on the Internet: The perspective of European

Children”, which surveyed adolescents in 25 different European countries and which was published in January 2011, found that 6 percent of these youngsters received online nasty or hurtful messages, and 3 percent of them have sent nasty or hurtful messages to the others online (Livingstone, Haddon, Görzig, & Ólafsson, 2011). Cyberbullying can even cause young kids traumas or bad feelings. According to “Risk and safety on the internet”, it was proven that half of the kids who have been experiencing receiving bullying or harmful messages online were fairly or really upset (Livingstone, Haddon, Görzig, and Ólafsson,

2011). Another negative effect that is caused by new technology devices and their applications would be that those adolescents spend less time with family and friends in terms of the face-to-face communication. They like to spend their time posting different pictures from their life on their profiles or even share tiniest life details and keep up to date with their peers. Taking pictures and posting them became a phenomenon that influences adolescents greatly. Young girls try to change their image based on the or

44 models that are posting various pictures, which are often altered in Photoshop, later possibly causing health disorders. Nudity became very popular – as was mentioned, young girls like to follow their icons, while many times there are young girls who attract predators by posting inappropriate pictures of themselves.

However, adolescents perceive smartphones and their applications as an advantage for their living; they are becoming addicted to these new devices that are able to provide them with any kind of service for what they need or desire ("Are Social Networking Sites Good for

Our Society," 2015). What should be mentioned as another negative side of technology devices is the fact that it can have negative impact on adolescents’ health. Itchy eyes or sleeping problems are the most occurring problems that are faced after extensive usage of these new technology devices. It can also cause a lack of concentration, which means that adolescents do not concentrate on their work, being distracted by their devices very often.

What I should not forget to mention is that all these negative aspects such as itchy eyes or sleeping problems have also a considerable influence on school performance. That is actually problematic because these young people are in the age when they are supposed to develop their knowledge background from elementary and high school ("Harmful Effect of

Commonly Used Electronic Devices on Adolescence and Its Safeguard at Shebin El-

Kom”). There is a question about the time they spend being online at home chatting with friends, while not doing some physical activities.

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CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we should consider that contemporary innovations of technology are very fast, which likely influences not only interaction and communication of adolescents but also the thinking and structure of society. If we look back to the time of McLuhan and

Innis, when the new technology devices were not invented yet, we could consider that their theories were correct and they predicted in their communication theories something that is happening right now. McLuhan global village that is seen as today’s internet is one of the biggest triggers in terms of changes in communication. The central point of his theory is that changes in communication technology cause changes in culture, have impact on people’s thinking and alter overall structure of society.

If we deeply think about his words, we could easily come to the conclusion that this situation is the one which our society currently faces, and it does lead to the point that our society is being shaped through the invention of new technology. This idea was addressed, as mentioned, by Harold Innis as well. Based on his theory, that the development of communication media is the key factor causing social changes, it would be proven by observing the contemporary type of society (Innis, 1951).

Quick evolution of smartphones allows them to become a number one communication tool of this era. Even though it has an impact on the whole society, new young generation became the main group of people who are and will be influenced by this evolution. In fact,

46 it is changing all the thinking and way of living at this time, because new technology devices such as smartphones, together with their applications are inseparable part of their lives. They replace cell phones and computers; they replace even television or radio because all this media are already implicit in these small devices (Mascheroni & Ólafsson,

2013). It is not only because smartphones themselves would be the ones including everything. Thanks to the internet that is a part of the technology gadgets, it is easy to download any application that replaces all these media. In addition, web browsers allow adolescents to seek any information they need in any particular situation. Computer mediated communication took place in our society because the contemporary communication is mostly based on the interaction between two or more networks like chartrooms, Social Networking Sites, text messages, or . We live at times when smartphones are taken as something that is able to solve any problem for anyone. It leads to communication becoming much easier, because no one has to interact personally face-to- face, and it allows us to communicate quickly from any place at any time. The lack of nonverbal communication rises with the appearance of computer mediated communication; however, on the other hand, this kind of communication is more frequent than traditional face-to-face communication.

As was mentioned before, it was discovered that online communication is improving relationships because adolescent are able to be in contact with friends or family nonstop.

That should be considered an important factor because the relationships are important part of any human being’s life. It also makes adolescents’ years of studies much easier, as getting information quickly through is easier than it was without the new technology. Based on the research in Slovakia, it was discovered that social networks

47 belong to the group of most popular and most used applications downloaded to any smartphone. Adolescents are able to communicate through them, but as well to get new information that is good for their brief overview about the world happening around them as well as thousands of kilometers away.

Along with the innovation of new technology, we should understand that not only the positive sides are provided to us. We should recognize and be aware of the fact that innovation can bring the harms and risks for new young generations as well, and parents shall be well informed and not let their children be freely exposed to these risks. Cyber bullying is the biggest harm that can be practiced via online communication and interaction, which are provided through smartphones and their communication tools (social networks). Computer mediated communication is considered an effective type of communication; however, as was mentioned before, it has some negative effects as well as positive ones. After all, innovation cannot bring only positives effects and results, and in the end we have to be able to recognize and be aware that development cannot merely make our lives easier without exposing us to some risks.

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APPENDIX

Questionnaire that was specially constructed for my research done in Slovakia.

QUESTIONNAIRE

My name is Denisa Kubackova and this questionnaire is done to help me in my Thesis that is connected to the topic how mew technology devices influence adolescent’s communication in Slovakia. By this research I want to explore how important are new technology devices for Slovakian adolescents and how much it influence their communication and interaction with the World.

Always circle only one correct answer

1. I have a:

Cell phone

Smartphone

2. How much time do you spend per day doing something on your smartphone? (Please give an approximate in hours)

------

3. How much time do you spend per day talking (face to face) with your friends? (Please give an approximate in hours)

------

4. I mainly use my smartphone for:

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Social networkorking on Facebook, Instagram, Snap chat, etc.

Taking pictures with the Camera

Making/Receiving Phone call

Sending/receiving text messages

Internet searching

5. I communicate more often through:

Social networks

Text messages/ phone call

6. I access the Internet or search on Internet through:

Smartphone

Computer

Tablet

7. How much time do you spend per day on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) on your smartphone? (write hours)

------

8. Do you upload special applications to your smartphone/ tablet?

Yes

No

If yes which ones?......

50

9. Do you consider smartphone as an important thing in our life?

Yes

No

10. I am a:

Male

Female

15. How old are you?

I am ______

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Section of graphs and tables that prove results of my research :

Correlation between time spent on smartphones (in hours) and time spent on face-to-face interaction (in hours)

Table 1

Correlation between time spent on smartphone and time spent on face-to-face interactions

Time spent on smartphone

Time spent on face to .096 face interactions

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Table 2

Correlation between time spent on smartphone and time spent on social networks on the smartphone

Time spent on smartphone

Time spent on social networks on the .676** smartphones

**p < .01

Table 3

Ranks in the Mann Whitney U test in Males and Females on Smartphone usage

Gender N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks

Male 18 15.92 286.50

Time spent on smartphone Female 22 24.25 533.50 (in hours)

Total 40

Table 4

Test Statistics in the Mann Whitney U test in Males and Females on Smartphone usage

Time spent on smartphone (in hours)

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Mann-Whitney U 115.500

Wilcoxon W 286.500

Z -2.310

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .021

Exact Sig. [2*(1-tailed Sig.)] .024b a. Grouping Variable: Gender b. Not corrected for ties.

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Table 5

Type of Phones that are used most often by adolescents

Frequency Percent

Cellphone 2 5.0

Valid Smartphone 38 95.0

Total 40 100.0

Table 6

Most frequent way of usage by Smartphone

Frequency Percent

Social networking on 27 67.5 Facebook, instagram

Making / Receiving phone 5 12.5 calls

Valid Sending / Receiving text 1 2.5 messages

Internet searching 7 17.5

Total 40 100.0

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Table 7

Main communication through Smartphone

Frequen Percent cy

Social 26 65.0 networks

Text 10 25.0 Valid messages

Phone calls 4 10.0

Total 40 100.0

Table 8

Access to the internet through Smartphone

Frequency Percent

Smartphone 21 52.5

Computer 13 32.5 Valid Tablet 6 15.0

Total 40 100.0

56

Table 9

Communication preference in Smartphone

Frequency Percent

Messages 4 10.0

Phone calls 18 45.0 Valid Pictures 18 45.0

Total 40 100.0

Table 10

Upload applications on Smartphone

Frequency Percent

Yes 30 75.0

Valid No 10 25.0

Total 40 100.0

Table 11

Being without smartphone

Frequency Percent

Valid No 40 100.0

57

Table 12

Smartphone is important

Frequency Percent

Valid Yes 40 100.0

Table 13

Gender participation in research

Frequency Percent

Male 18 45.0

Valid Female 22 55.0

Total 40 100.0

Table 14

Age participation in research

Frequency Percent

14 17 42.5

15 11 27.5 Valid 16 12 30.0

Total 40 100.0

58

Table 15

Statistics

Age

Valid 40 N Missing 0

Mean 14.88

Std. Deviation .853

Table 16

Descriptive Statistics

Minim Maxim Std. Varian N Range um um Mean Deviation ce

Time spent on 40 9 3 12 7.40 2.725 7.426 smartphone (in hours)

Time spent on 40 3 3 6 4.68 .829 .687 face to face interactions (in hours)

Time spent on 40 5 3 8 5.50 1.553 2.410 social networks on the smartphone

Gender 40 1 1 2 1.55 .504 .254

Age 40 2 14 16 14.88 .853 .728

59

Descriptive Statistics

Minim Maxim Std. Varian N Range um um Mean Deviation ce

Time spent on 40 9 3 12 7.40 2.725 7.426 smartphone (in hours)

Time spent on 40 3 3 6 4.68 .829 .687 face to face interactions (in hours)

Time spent on 40 5 3 8 5.50 1.553 2.410 social networks on the smartphone

Gender 40 1 1 2 1.55 .504 .254

Age 40 2 14 16 14.88 .853 .728

Valid N (listwise) 40

60

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