Phone Junkies

While searching for an article to read with my class, I came across this, and thought I'd share it.

Korea Becoming a Nation of Phone Junkies
Addicted teens suffer stress and hallucinations, mobile phone research finds
Simon Burns, vnunet.com 06 Dec 2005

South Korean teenagers are so attached to their mobile phones that some researchers are classifying them as 'addicts', according to recent reports.

Almost a third are obsessed with their phones to the point that they sometimes imagine hearing them ringing when they are not.

Forty per cent send over 1,000 text messages every month, and a similar percentage of students say they habitually send or receive text messages or play games during classes.

These and other findings are contained in a survey of 1,100 mobile phone users, aged 14 to 19, which was carried out last month by Korea's Far East University on behalf of the country's Ministry of Communication.

According to the survey, a fifth refused to be parted from their phones even while bathing.

Mobile games, played by 40 per cent of Koreans, are also causing concern. One 22 year-old university student told a local newspaper that he played games on his phone three to four hours a day and that during classes he and many of his classmates sat at the back of the class surreptitiously playing.

Another said that he kept one phone for calls, and one for games. A 27-year-old office worker interviewed said that he sneaked into the office toilets to play mobile games four or five times a day. Photo by Matt Campagna www.projectseoul.com

A third of the survey respondents reported auditory hallucinations, for example 'hearing' their phone ringing when it is not. "Even though I set my cellphone to vibrate when calls come in, I sometimes hear my phone ringing," a female high-school student told the JoongAng Daily.

Young people in South Korea are among the most wired in the world. Almost 80 per cent of the country's 48 million people have mobile phones, according to Jong In Yang, an analyst with Korea Investment and Securities.

Among teenagers, owning a mobile phone is seen as essential to having a normal social life; mobile device ownership is heavily concentrated in the hands of the under-40s, earlier research has shown.

Korea's mobile phone service providers will generate approximately $18bn in earnings this year, according to Hyundai Securities.

Although about 150,000 new users are still being added every month, the youth market is close to saturation. As a result mobile phone service operators are trying to lure customers with low-cost games, messaging and other services, and trying to increase revenues from existing users by encouraging them to use their phones more.

A separate, larger survey earlier this year classified more than a third of South Korean high-school students as mobile phone addicts. A quarter of middle-school students also qualified. That survey, by Korean research organisation Marketing Insights, questioned 9,800 mobile phone users.

The so-called addicts' behaviour included feelings of insecurity or irritation when they were unable to use their phones, and a compulsion to leave their phones switched on in cinemas and similar environments. The behaviour tended to be about 20 per cent more common in women than in men, the survey found.

Educational authorities in Seoul now hand out leaflets to students of all ages explaining how to use mobile phones sensibly and politely.

High school student Kim So-hee leads a student group campaigning for one voluntary phone free day each month.

"Now that I am less obsessed with mobile phones, I can spend more time talking with my mother face-to-face and writing letters by hand to my friends instead of sending messages," So-hee said.

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The first reaction of anyone who has spent any amount of time here is likely to be, "What do you mean, becoming?" They already ARE.

Cell phones, or 'handphones' as they are called, are absolutely pervasive here in Seoul. Virtually everyone has them. I mean, the 5 year old kid to the 80 year old grandma. And everyone is always using them, to call, send text messages, play games, surf the net, you name it. The handphone is ubiquitous in Korea. As the article said, almost 80% of the people here have them. That's huge, especially for a country that was dirt poor less than 50 years ago.

As for the freakish addict behavior like taking the phone into the shower or sneaking off to play games for hours on end, I haven't seen any of it. But I have had students whose parents call them in the middle of class, just to check up on them. And I have been recruited by a coworker to help her analyze a fight she had with a boyfriend that happened entirely by TEXT MESSAGE.

So why the obsession with the handphone? My theory is that it boils down to three things: ease of communication, entertainment, personal expression. The most obvious thing is that the handphone is a way for people to communicate more easily, which increases feelings of being connected with their friends and family. And being connected gives a feeling of being accepted. People are social creatures, and this is just one of the coolest and simplest ways available to socialize and conduct daily interactions. Text messaging, for example, is for teenagers today what note passing was to my generation. And for adults, its an awfully convenient way to tell your friend that you are running 15 minutes late.

And what do you do when you are running late, waiting on a boring subway train? Here emerges another appeal of the handphone -- it is a great way to entertain yourself. This was not so much the case in the US, where public transportation isn't used my most people. But the average Korean spends a great deal of time on the subway or the bus, and that means a lot of downtime where the phone really comes in handy. Games are one thing; you can also send text messages or call someone to chat to pass the time. Many phones now have a built in camera, internet access, and most recently, TV reception. My phone allows me to design "Avatars," little animated characters using mix and match outfits and hairdos. Whoever had the phone before me (its used) created some pretty lame little people, so I am slowly working on building up my own entourage of groovey dudes and dudettes. As if having hip animated characters in my phone somehow made me cooler....

But as silly as it sounds, creating your own little phone buddies is more than just entertainment -- it is a form of expression. This I think is one of the most important things to understand about the popularity of handphones in Korea, especially when it comes to teens. A person's handphone is simply another vehicle for them to distinguish themself from everyone else. Just like the car in America, it is an extension of the personality and a great way to convey an image. The model and color you chose (or can afford) is the first thing. Of course, the newer and more expensive, the better. Next is the way you accessorize your phone -- most people here have some small trinket that dangles from the antenna, much like a key chain. There are neckstraps and cases in endless designs and colors. There are even mini-purses that are made to carry ONLY the phone.

Photo by Matt Campagna www.projectseoul.com
Then, of course, there is the ringtone. The ringtone you select is very important. Most phones come with several dozen to chose from, but you can also download popular songs from the internet for very cheap. I remember this was very popular in the states as well. You can get the popular song of the moment, nostalgic classics, TV theme music, sound effects you name it. You can program the phone so that different songs play for different people -- my favorite was my friend whose phone played the Jaws theme whenever his mom called. You can also download animated graphics to play when a call comes in, and you can program different graphics for different people. My phone has various animals that show up when various people call. So in a sense, the phone not only offers a way to express yourself, but also a way to express how you feel about those who call you.

So in spite of what you think of them, handphones are not going anywhere for the time being. Especially not in Korea. I think if it was possible to have the phone surgically attached to the hand, people here would be all over it. You laugh, but I wouldn't be surprised, especially given that the phone technology and quality of service here is years ahead of the US. We always think we are the first in everything but we are WRONG. Koreans make Americans look like cavemen when it comes to cell phones. Can you get perfect reception when you are in a subway car hundreds of meters underground? I can.....and my Avatars are sexier than yours. So there.