Nomophobia: Fear of Not Having Access to Mobile Devices

Nomophobia is the fear of not having access to mobile devices. According to Pavithra et al. (2015), humans are social beings with a continuous desire to talk to each other every time. If this communication is cut, they can end up falling to depression and become vulnerable to mental illness attack. This physical connection has been replaced by technology through virtual interaction whereby, millennials feel better connecting with people far away through mobile devices while neglecting the people around them. Mobile phones facilitate long-distance interaction and entertainment leading to addiction. Nomophobia is common especially among the millennials due to the following factors.

First, advances in technology cause nomophobia. Yildirim et al. (2016), in their research article entitled "A growing fear: Prevalence of nomophobia among Turkish college students," noted that social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn provide a platform over which thousands of millennials interact to share their interests. According to Yildirim et al. (2016), this active interaction is addictive such that one can easily be bored when not able to access it. Second, the availability of affordable mobile devices is also another crucial factor contributing to nomophobia among millennials (Pavithra et al., 2015). Nowadays, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and iPods are available at prices that millennials can easily afford. As a result, some of the people today own more than one mobile device. Presence of mobile phones enhances regular interaction with it leading to addiction and eventually causes nomophobia. Third, millennials have easy access to the internet. Ali et al. (2017), in their research article entitled "The Relationship Between Phone Usage Factors and Nomophobia," noted that millennials are connected continuously through fast internet on their smartphones and tablets. When these mobile devices are taken away, they feel lost and extremely bored. Lastly, millennials have numerous apps to stay connected. WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, among others enable millennials to interact with each other at the click of a button (Yildirim et al., 2016). These mobile apps have made the world a small global community by bringing people together from any part of the world to a common platform where they can hold real-time chats, and share images and videos. It is very addictive and can easily cause nomophobia.

Pros and Cons to Technology in the Workplace

Technology plays significant roles in the workplace. First, technology enhances effective progress in the new workplace environment. According to Cardon and Marshall (2015), there are numerous innovative software products that boost efficiency and optimize workflow. Moussa (2015), in his research article entitled "Monitoring employee behavior through the use of technology and issues of employee privacy in America," noted that technology enables managers and supervisors to easily supervise activities at the workplace to keep everything on track. Some software programs can help improve both quality and quantity of work and assist in the management of risks by providing alerts whenever something goes wrong thereby preventing unnecessary losses. Hence, technology optimizes work performance leading to invariably effective work progress. Second, technology facilitates the transfer of skills among employees. Smartphones, chat apps, social networking sites, among others have enhanced instantaneous, collaborative, more deliberate, and effective communication among employees. Senior employees can easily share knowledge with junior employees and guide them in conducting technical tasks through open communication due to advanced technology (Moussa, 2015). Third, technology has enhanced multi-tasking of duties at the workplace. Modern offices require one employee to do several different tasks at a time. Advanced technology can enable an employee to perform several and various functions at the same time (Cardon and Marshall, 2015). For example, an employee can build a complicated database while attending a virtual meeting and respond to urgent messages and emails at the same time.

Despite its numerous benefits, technology is also evil. According to Nyaribo and Munene (2018), technology disconnects employees from their social environment. Employees nowadays may lack contact with fellow employees and even lose concentration on their tasks because they spend most of their time online reading, chatting, or watching images and videos. This results in isolation at the workplace among employees (Nyaribo and Munene, 2018). In addition to that, technology also makes employees easily distracted. Most employees spend a long time on their phones doing personal activities at the workplace. This eventually leads to delayed delivery of operations at the workplace (Nyaribo and Munene, 2018).

References

Ali, A., Muda, M., Ridzuan, A. R., Nuji, M. N. N., Izzamuddin, M. H. M., & Latiff, D. I. A. (2017). The Relationship Between Phone Usage Factors and Nomophobia. Advanced Science Letters, 23(8), 7610-7613.Cardon, P. W., & Marshall, B. (2015). The hype and reality of social media use for work collaboration and team communication. International Journal of Business Communication, 52(3), 273-293.

Moussa, M. (2015). Monitoring employee behavior through the use of technology and issues of employee privacy in America. Sage Open, 5(2), 2158244015580168.Nyaribo, Y. M., & Munene, A. G. (2018). Effect of social media participation in the workplace on employee productivity. IJAME.Pavithra, M. B., Madhukumar, S., & Mahadeva, M. (2015). A study on nomophobia-mobile phone dependence, among students of a medical college in Bangalore. National Journal of community medicine, 6(3), 340-344.Yildirim, C., Sumuer, E., Adnan, M., & Yildirim, S. (2016). A growing fear: Prevalence of nomophobia among Turkish college students. Information Development, 32(5), 1322-1331.