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Smartphone is a ‘Place where we live’, anthropologists reveal

Smartphone users have the same feelings about their devices as they do about their homes. A UCL landmark finding revealed how people around the globe have become “human snails carrying our homes in our pockets.”

The study disclosed the manner in which people have become addicted to their gadgets to the extent of ignoring family members and friends. A team of 11 anthropologists from UCL took more than a year detailing the use of smartphone in nine countries around the world.

The anthropologist used their 16 months living in communities in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe analyzing how smartphone had affected people’s way of life. 

According to the lead researcher, Prof Daniel Miller, “the smartphone is no longer just a device that we use; it’s become the place where we live.” The study showed how humans have become more contented with their smart gadgets than being in physical company of other people.

Social messaging app, Whatsapp is termed as the “heart of the smartphone.” Most smartphone users regularly reconnect with friends, family and relatives on Whatsapp. Instant messaging apps necessitate the endless transmission of photographs, files and documents.

The study particularly focused on older adults, who were considered to be neither young nor elderly. The considered age bracket was to avoid biasness and underpinned on reflection of mobile use as the “possession of humanity as a whole.”

The researchers found out that smartphone are among the basic needs. “The smartphone is perhaps the first object to challenge the house itself. In terms of the amount of time we dwell on it while awake,” they concluded.

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