Does mobile internet improve communication or impede it?

The internet keeps changing, but it’s not necessarily only moving us only forward or improving our lives, as it increases its availability and reach. When the first version of the internet changed into “web 2.0”, it was already a drastic change, mostly for the best, but the mobile internet revolution has had an even greater impact. In order to illustrate some aspects of this new trend that might require us to give this some further thought, I will sum up a few of its effects.

• the majority of people in industrialized countries are mainly using the internet from their phone, not from a computer;

• the vast majority of people who are ‘on the internet’ are in fact busy doing something else, and only checking in on their inboxes and home feeds for a quick look, quick like, and a possible quick response;

• the result is decreased focus during shows, meetings, and other work and social activities of real life;

• ‘social media’ activity is now focused not on engaging/exploring contact, but tuned to just enough interaction to be able to maintain contact;

• a drastic decrease in reading, dramatic increase in ‘glancing’; creation of the illusion of being ‘informed’, while in fact having only vaguely touched on the information;

• far-stretching impact on those who produce online media: websites, videos, music or anything else must either grab visitor attention within 5 to 10 seconds, or end up reaching only those dwindling numbers of people who actually access internet via their computers.

This is only a selection from the many effects of ambulatory internet. Maybe you are reading this now, while someone in real life, sitting right next to you, is trying to tell you something and is wondering why you keep looking at your phone. Don’t you think that person might actually deserve some real and undivided attention?

Of course, it’s great that you can now have access to information wherever you are, and whenever you want. We must however not lose sight of the side effects of these developments.

These can be summarized as: the mobile internet revolution has increased user and inter-user exposure, but simultaneously dramatically decreased depth of behavior in terms of accessing information, contacts, and interaction.

Web content producers have adapted to these changes as well. Memes are a good example; a picture with a few words suffices as content, since it is geared to the user who is on his way to the train station or stuck in a boring meeting, because it takes him only two seconds to see it, three seconds to enjoy it, and one second to share it with others. Cheer it on if you like in the name of efficiency, but don’t forget that only limited information can be shared in a meme, and that we are all giving each other a speed course in superficiality if we empower these trends without attempting to control the accompanying adverse effects.

As you can see, from my point of view the mobile internet is a dramatic step down from the beneficial effects of the internet of the first years, in terms of what it adds to our lives, and in terms of how it aids our education and interaction. No doubt, another change is on the way, one that we are not as yet aware of.  Let’s hope that whatever comes next will reverse this accelerated trend of aloofness, and that the next thing that internet technology will bring us will be something that brings back some depth into our lives.

Doc Jazz