Do you consider the Internet as a media that amplifies or promotes ideology, propaganda, violence, surveillance or control, or as a means to democratize society and empower citizens? Why?
Yes, the Internet is an environment for the development of new media, including news portals, social media portals and more.
On the basis of the above considerations and conclusions from the discussion on interesting issues discussed, I formulated the following thesis that ICT information technologies, the Internet of Things, social media posts, the use of smartphones for communication, etc. facilitates communication but can also change the social behavior standards of people in many aspects.
In addition, I propose the following research question in this area:
Can the impact of everyday use of smartphones by young people significantly modify and shape the social behavior of young people?
On the basis of the above considerations and conclusions from the discussion on interesting issues discussed, I formulated the following thesis that the impact of everyday use of smartphones by young people can significantly modify and shape the social behavior of young people. However, what will be the effects of this impact and changes in social behavior, methods of communication between people, i.e. whether they will be socially and psychophysically positive or rather negative effects, it depends on many factors, which include, among others, the following determinants:
- In what applications are they used as lubricants by young people?
- How much time on a daily scale do children and young people spend using smartphones for various purposes?
- Do children and young people use smartphones mainly for educational purposes, as a tool for finding information related to knowledge learned at school, or is the smartphone a source of entertainment?
- Do children and young people use smartphones, among others, to contact their peers through social media portals such as Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Snapchat, Pinterest and others?
- Are children and young people already a significant market for the sale of products from various companies advertised on social networks?
- Can excessive use of smartphones by children and young people negatively affect their psychophysical development?
Below I have described the key determinants confirming the formulated research thesis. To the above discussion I would like to add the following conclusion formulated as a summary of my previous considerations on this topic: The positive or negative impact of smartphones on the social behavior and psychophysical health of children and young people can be large.
In recent years, young people use desktop computers less often and more often with laptops and mobile devices or mainly use mobile devices, primarily smartphones. Are these changes in the use of devices with Internet access, and the increasing use of smartphones, conducive to the use of Internet communication, including social media portals and the use of Internet information resources, make young people significantly use the Internet as a useful knowledge resource to the education process? Research shows that smartphones are equipped with new applications offering new types of information services, etc. Therefore, smartphones are less and less used for telephoning because the number of other functions and applications in the field of new Internet information services is increasing.
ICT information technologies, internet technologies and advanced processing technologies for large data sets collected in Big Data database systems, processed with the use of Business Intelligence analytical platforms, with access to the analytical system through smartphones and other devices. The Internet of Things is increasingly used in modern education. Therefore, the possibility of using smartphones as a tool supporting education is also an important issue. ICT information technologies and new media internet technologies, Industry 4.0 advanced data processing technologies, which are increasingly being implemented into educational processes and may also negatively impact pedagogical processes in schools. I also believe that the implementation of ICT information technologies, new media internet technologies, including social media portals and advanced data processing technology Industry 4.0 into educational processes can have a negative impact on the classical theory of children's mental development. Because in young children and adolescents, the process of adopting new concepts (thought process) in pre-school institutes extends from the perception of the senses (sight, hearing, touch), speech and direct manipulation of real objects (teaching resources), to create abstract concepts is the use of new information technologies ICT, Internet technologies and Industry 4.0 should be done under the full control of educators. Because in young children, the child must first "see the object in his head", he first had to "see it and touch with his hand" to learn, so devoting a significant amount of time to viewing various graphic and film spots, advertising on social media websites by children can cause negative effects in the psyche and in the child's psychosomatic development.
To answer the above questions, it is necessary to verify first of all the following question: Do children and young people use smartphones mainly for educational purposes as a tool for searching information related to knowledge learned at school, or rather a smartphone is a source of entertainment? Children and young people are increasingly using smartphones to, among others, contact their peers through social media portals such as Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Snapchat, Pinterest and others. Many companies in the clothing, cosmetics, toy, perfumeries, etc. have already noticed that children and young people already constitute a significant market for the sale of products of various companies advertised on social networks. However, many studies show that excessive use of smartphones by children and young people can negatively affect their psychophysical development. Many potential negative aspects of the use of smartphones by children and young people have already been defined.
For example, too much time allocated to the use of smartphones by children and young people for entertainment purposes, e.g. to conduct discussions with peers through social media portals and to play computer games reduces the time spent on physical activity and can be an important factor increasing obesity and deterioration of physical and mental health. In addition, children recently watch a lot of movies and cartoons on social networks, including smartphones. If children spend a lot of time on watching movies and cartoons on social networks, including smartphones, this can have a negative impact on the child's psycho-physical development, including causing deterioration of vision if they spend a lot of time watching movies, posts, comments, advertising banners on social networks viewed on your smartphone.
In recent years, there have been more and more situations of addiction of children and young people to the use of smartphones. The problem of youth addiction to smartphones is growing in many countries. A very negative effect is the rapidly growing number of road accidents caused by the fact that while driving a car, motorbike, bicycle drivers use smartphones and more and more pedestrians fall under the cars entering the road while browsing messages on smartphones. Therefore, in some countries more restrictive legal regulations are introduced, including, first of all, a ban on entering the road while looking at the smartphone. In addition, special lighting systems are installed in the pavements to inform about changing lights at pedestrian crossings on the roadways. In this respect, the educational role of parents and teachers in schools is also crucial in considering the impact of long-term use of smartphones by children on children's development.
Therefore, if children or young people use smartphones to learn, as a tool supporting the processes of education, communication with peers from school and friends, and if they use new internet media devices from time to time, this may not be assessed positively. However, if it divides or teenagers use smartphones many hours a day, among others, browsing advertisements on social media portals and worthless memes and films, then it can have a destructive impact on the intellectual and psychological development of children and youth. In this situation, the use of smartphones by children and youth should be limited and controlled by parents, guardians and teachers.
Therefore, the use of smartphones by children and young people should be subject to parental control. The need for this control results from the growing number of different information services available on smartphones, the growing number of children and adolescents dependent on the use of smartphones, the increase in the number of cases of neglecting school duties, the increase in the percentage of children diagnosed with vision defects caused by too long browsing of content posted on the Internet and read on a smartphone etc.
Therefore, information and communication technologies cannot replace every form and method of learning in the educational process of young children and young people. Of course, full implementation of ICT information technologies, new media internet technologies, including social media portals and advanced data processing technology Industry 4.0 into teaching processes in schools cannot be ruled out. This process is already underway. However, it is necessary to bring this process under full control of educators, teachers and parents of children. Already, there is a lot of disturbing information from the media and from ongoing research on the effects of using new media internet technologies, including social media portals by children and young people. Children and teenagers mainly browse social media on smartphones. Many children spend too much time browsing social media portals on smartphones. The result is a reduction in the time spent on physical and sport activities, on learning, book readership decreases and the scale of diagnosed vision defects in adolescents in recent years. In this way, many problems arise that can affect the reduction of educational opportunities for children and adolescents. these problems should be solved systemically at all levels of the education system, i.e. from ministries of education to individual schools.
In addition, students and parents should be made aware of emerging threats through social campaigns in various media. Research shows that the process of implementing ICT information technologies, new media internet technologies, including social media portals and advanced data processing technologies, Industry 4.0 for teaching processes in schools has already begun. Of course, the use of ICT, Internet and Industry 4.0 technologies in education processes does not only generate negative aspects. Therefore, the central institutions of the education system should coordinate the development of these processes in such a way as to maximize the positive aspects of the implementation of ICT information technologies, new media internet technologies, including social media portals and advanced industry 4.0 data processing technology for teaching processes in schools. However, one should not forget about these negative aspects, about already diagnosed developing problems, which should be solved and educating teachers, students and parents about potential threats.
Activation for critical thinking of students is a particularly important determinant of effective education. Modern education instruments are important in this matter, thanks to which analytical techniques, brainstorming, debates, discussions, etc. used in the education process of pupils and students are developed. These techniques should also develop creativity, innovation and teamwork. In my opinion, activation of critical thinking of students and pupils, development of discussion skills in debates, development of creativity, innovation and teamwork of pupils and students correlates perfectly with the development of the concept of modern education 4.0. Currently, in the era of the technological revolution referred to as industry 4.0, new teaching concepts are emerging known as education 4.0.
On the other hand, dynamic development of social media portals on the Internet is currently underway. For young people using smartphones, social media portals are one of the main sources of information.
Probably the next stage in the development of social media portals will be the implementation of artificial intelligence into these portals and into search engines and creating applications such as interactive advisers on individual information websites. Social media portals are at some stages of education, in some education systems they are used to educate students on specific issues and according to the age of the students. But do they really help in the education process or are they just another teaching aid without a significant impact on the learning outcomes? Pupils and students use social media portals to exchange information useful for education. In addition, on Facebook, pupils and students create group profiles where they post joint didactic materials. In addition, they create survey forms for the needs of surveys, the results of which are used for written theses and final essays.
In connection with the above, another key question arises:
Should new online media be used in education processes? In my opinion, yes, new online media should be used in education processes. The issue of communication with the use of new online media is very important in the context of an effectively conducted education process. We currently communicate widely through various online media, including email. Some email inboxes that we use have anti-spam restrictions, which makes communication difficult. The development of communication through various internet media, also through social media portals, is an important issue in education. New media should be used effectively in the education process, but their technical specifications are not always fully suitable for the needs of communication development in the context of the implemented education process. However, whenever possible, new online media should be used in education, because young people use them widely and can be an excellent additional tool in the field of teaching instruments, e.g. for the effective search of necessary, current information.
In solutions regarding the use of smartphones as instruments used in didactics, the following should also be taken into account: During some lessons it may be for a certain period of time, in certain situations of didactic games or presentation of specific processes and lesson topics, the teacher may allow the use of devices such as virtual reality spheres and augmented reality. In addition, the teacher may also include other mobile devices such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. in the education process. In specific situations, these devices would play the role of teaching instruments to support the teaching processes conducted by the teacher. However, if the use of laptops, tablets, smartphones, smartwatches, etc. during school lessons is not a teaching instrument, it is not part of the educational process, it should be prohibited during the lesson to use these devices. Using laptops, tablets, smartphones, smartwatches and other mobile devices enabling browsing the Internet resources during the lesson may interfere with students' active participation in the lesson and the teacher may be distracted in conducting the lesson. On the other hand, during some lessons it may be for a certain period of time, in certain situations of searching for information on the Internet, the teacher may allow the use of these devices if laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. would act as didactic instruments enabling finding the necessary information.
On the other hand, thanks to information technologies, new online media and Industry 4.0 technologies, the logistics of information and communication between institutions and enterprises is being improved. The improvement of communication between individuals, institutions and enterprises is achieved through the use of new online information and communication media in combination with the Internet of Things technology. The current development of mobile devices, mainly smartphones and their applications for international communication and information transfer makes it possible to improve information logistics. Therefore, the use of online new media technologies and advanced information processing technologies, i.e. industry 4.0 typical for the current technological revolution, can significantly increase the efficiency of communication processes between cooperating members of national and international working teams in institutions and enterprises.
In connection with the above, there are also many positive applications of smartphones, including those used to support the development of science. Smartphones facilitate communication between scientists and facilitate the search for scientific information that can be useful for conducting scientific research. Smarfons are increasingly replacing laptops and other computers. In a situation where scientists, teachers, students and students would smartly search and read publications published e.g. on the Research Gate website, this is a perfect, positive example of using a smartphone as a tool supporting the processes of education and science development.
It is worth adding the following issue to these considerations. At present, smartphones dominate in the use of communication and the use of various information services. In addition, some Internet users also use tablets and smatwatches. Google glasses with Internet access a few years ago were to be an innovative hit that would revolutionize the mobile Internet, but they did not get adopted on a larger scale. Perhaps no significant demand has arisen for this type of device yet. Perhaps this will change in the future. Perhaps the era of this type of mobile devices will appear in the future when the next generations of compatible devices will appear and 5G Internet will become more widespread.
According to the above, in my opinion the impact of everyday use of smartphones by young people can significantly modify and shape the social behavior of young people. However, what will be the effects of this impact and changes in social behavior, ways of communication between people, i.e. whether they will be socially and psychophysically positive or rather negative effects, it depends on many factors that I described above.
In accordance with the above, in my opinion, ICT information technologies, the Internet of Things, social media posts, using smartphones for communication, etc. facilitates communication, but can also change the social behavior standards of people in many aspects.
The Internet is, in theory, one of the key instances of technology in the media. It is mainly aimed at an advanced communication network (i.e. high-speed information transmission from one place to another) that connects people worldwide. The driving force of media that use the internet as a communication tool to project and report events all over the world within sec. is the average person's ability to gain information into his / her own life or something that can be of interest to him or her. Online service, also the most critical use of the Internet. The Internet has made a difference for us to shop. To conclude the internet is therefore a "technology," which involves media, trade and other activities.
Hello Adasa Nkrumah , and all the other researches! Here, my personal, metathorical view of the instances:
-Handy, Tablet, PC, etc. = Media (Medium)
-Internet, provided by Hardware = a network to carry Information (like nerves in the Brain)
-The carried Information = Thougths of the Brain (created by humans)
In relation to the classic media like Radio, Print and TV, its specifics differs a lot:
E.G.:
- Speed of Information-Flow
- unsafe communication relationships (Journalist and recipient)
- its Global charakter
That may lead to uncertainity about and uncontrolled spread of Information, which could result in what you have said: "amplifies or promotes ideology, propaganda, violence, surveillance or control, or as a means to democratize society and empower citizens?"
In my perception it can be compared with a flavor enhancer for Information.
The Internet can be used for anything good or evil. However, it is impossible to control it. Some countries placed restrictions on the Internet to limit unwanted use, but they failed to have complete control over it.
When you provide free access to the Internet, you only hope that constructive ideologies will prevail, but you cannot keep propaganda and hate speech from abusing it. If you limit and monitor Internet access, you take away free speech, free press, and constructive criticism.
Alas, there is no easy way to handle this dilemma. It may be better to provide free access and educate people to handle the responsibility that comes with it. In addition, some monitoring needs to be exercised to handle false information and other problems.
Dear Adasa Nkrumah countries are also different from each other. Media can use internet to amplify and spread the news. Internet is used now such a big advertising tool. Governments of different are using this for their purpose.