Critical Evaluation of Social Media and Smart Devices in the UK Market

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the rise of social media and smartphones, focusing on their impact within the UK market. It begins with an abstract summarizing the key points, followed by an introduction that highlights the significant changes in individual behavior due to the emergence of these technologies. The essay critically evaluates the evolution of smartphones and social media, tracing their development from early cell phones to modern smart devices and platforms. It then analyzes the impact of these changes on various aspects of life, including business, society, and individuals, using a SWOT analysis to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The essay includes illustrations depicting smartphone ownership and social media usage in the UK. In conclusion, it emphasizes the transformative influence of social media and smartphones on communication, business, and societal structures, offering insights into their opportunities and challenges. The study utilizes secondary data to provide a well-rounded perspective on the topic.

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCES
“THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND SMART
DEVICES”

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF CHANGES IN THE TECHNOLOGY.........................................4
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF CHANGES.....................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................8
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................................10

ILLUSTRATION INDEX
Illustration 1: Smartphone ownership in UK by demographic 2012-2014....................................10
Illustration 2: UK Social indicators ..............................................................................................11
Illustration 3: Use of social media use in UK ...............................................................................12

ABSTRACT
Smartphone and social media have overtaken the place of laptops and desktops as the
most popular device. They provide various opportunities to users such as browse the internet,
access social networking sites, online shopping and many more. It is observed that due to
emergence of new computer technologies like Social, Mobile, Cloud and Analytics (SMAC) etc.
and changing lifestyle of customers, perception of people towards products and devices have
been completely changed. This present article took a birds-eye-view snapshot of the usage
pattern of Smartphone and opportunities rise through using smart devices and social media in
changing customer’s daily routines. Main aim of article is to highlight the latest trends of
Smartphone and social media in the context of UK market and their impact on individual’s life.
As per the concern of study, secondary data which include both qualitative and quantitative
nature have been employed to have better insight into topic.
Keywords: Social, Mobile, Analytical, Cloud (SMAC), Smart phones.
INTRODUCTION
From the appearance of social sites and Smartphone, drastic changes have been noted in
the behavior of an individual in business and in their daily life also. All these devices and
computer technology now become an essential part of society. In the digital era, consumers are
spending most of their time in using Smartphone and apps for various purposes such as shopping
experience, communication, entertainment, productivity functions and so on (Hendricks, 2013).
Smartphone and social media, both are playing an important role in bringing the revolution in
various sectors and making the life of people easier. The following study is based on rise of
social media and smartphones devices. By using this subject, different aspects such as evaluation
of changes in technology and their impact on government, business, society and individual will
be explored by using SWOT analysis.
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE CHANGES IN THE TECHNOLOGY
In the present time, without having a smart device and connectivity with the social media,
the survival in community has now become impossible. In the early time, Cell phones were too
huge and heavy and users were unable to carry them in their pocket from one place to another.
By seeing this situation, Motorola had launched Dyna TAC 8000x cell phone in the market in

1983 which was the small as compared to old phones (Reed, 2010).
Kumar, 2013 has explored that “in the year 1993-94, IBM had developed a cell phone
which was completely wireless and that was called IBM Simon. The problem raised and needed
improvement in the cell phone in that condition when users started feeling that it is a huge and
not easy to carry out in their pocket. This was the era where new innovation in mobile
technology had been started” (Kumar, 2013). In 1996, a Palm Pilot device came in the market
which worked over only wireless radio signals. It was used for the communication purpose in IT
industry. But the people were not able to make or receive calls from that phone and this was the
major reason of development of smart phones that will work on wireless (Ohta and et.al., 2011).
After this, in 1998, Nokia was the first company that launched a first foldable cell phone
which was wireless and worked on radio signals. This phone was allowing the users to make and
receive calls without any problem. Kumar, 2013 has explored in his study that “the evaluation of
Smartphone increases like fire in a forest and due to this, many companies started to develop
phone. The major and important feature of those Smartphone is that they were foldable, easy to
carry and provided both voice and data sending and receiving facilities to the services users”
(Kumar, 2013).
On the other hand, Berkman, 2012 has stated that “in 2007, Apple has launched a multi
touch screen smart phones which have given new heights to the development of Smartphone.
But, in 2008, Google has brought new innovation which is called as Android Operating System.
It was the OS of Smartphone that help in increasing the connectivity with other mobile services
in which social media was the one” (Berkman, 2012). In this context, Hendricks, 2013 has
explored in his research that “before 1990, letter was considered as a social media method of
communication which was used by the people to share their thoughts. In 1792, social media has
changed because of invention of telegraph which can be delivered at longer distance. But the
negative thing is that few words can be written on telegraphs. This was the era where revolution
in social media started” (Hendricks, 2013). But in 20th century, the changes in technology were
taking place and it gave the birth to internet.
Hendricks, 2013 has stated that “by the evaluation of computer and support of internet,
users started to use virtual newsletters for sending messages from other person. In 1999, Six
Degrees was the first social media site which enables the users to create profile and help in
making friends. Now in the present time, meaning of social media becomes change after the

invention of blogging. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. are some of the most popular social
media websites which increase the connectivity. By this, users can easily reach to number of
people within a second and can communicate with them easily” (Hendricks, 2013).
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF CHANGES
The evaluation of the impact of change in Smartphone can be determined with the help of
SWOT analysis which are as follows.
Strengths: According to Chen, 2013 “new technology in Smartphone helps people to
communicate with each other and to learn new things. It also helps in bringing improvements in
the business to make life easier (Chen, 2013). LinSys, 2012 has stated that “Smartphone allows
users to edit their documents and with the help of GPS application, it is easy to locate a new
location” (LinSys, 2012).
Weaknesses: Juliab, 2013 explored that “Smartphone are too much expensive so that
every person has not afford it” (Juliab, 2013). Along with this, different types of applications in
the phone may create confusion in the user’s mind during operating it. But LinSys, 2012 has
stated that “the use of Smartphone isolates the person from society and it is hard to keep
information confidential from others” (LinSys, 2012).
Opportunities: As per the words of LinSys, 2012 “there are lots of opportunities for
Smartphone such as new innovation, decreased overall cost, emerging of new markets, improved
communication etc.” (LinSys, 2012).
Threats: But Williams, 2014 has not agreed with the above statement and stated that
“there are various threats from using Smartphone and social media. The excess use of technology
by children affects their psychology as well as stops their brain’s development” (Williams,
2014). In addition to this, Chen, 2013 has suggested that adults and youngsters are always busy
on phones like attending the calls, sending messages, doing chats etc.” (Chen, 2013).
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it can be said that social media and Smartphone have allowed
public to get engaged in political protest and to share the views as well as opinions to bring
revolution in politics. On the other hand, new technology and trends of social media also help in
growing business such as giving advertisement, developing business app, making the complete
website for Smartphone etc. In addition to this, Smartphone and social media also supports

society by providing better ways of communication, through learning new things, getting
exposure of new innovations etc. But on individual basis, Smartphone and social media both
provide opportunities to people for having growth in their career, in personality development,
making them socially responsible, in learning new things and many more.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berkman, F., 2012. How the Cellphone Got 'Smart'. [Online]. Available through:
<http://mashable.com/2012/10/15/cellphones-smartphones/#SiPTIQfkyPqb>. [Accessed
on 13th October 2015].
Chen, B., 2013. The Smartphone Culture. [Online]. Available through:
<https://sites.google.com/site/christinadarcocsis103/the-smartphone-culture>. [Accessed
on 13th October 2015].
Dan, 2014. Smartphone ownership in the UK by demographic, 2012-2014. [Online]. Available
through: <http://digital-stats.blogspot.in/2014/08/smartphone-ownership-in-uk-by.html.
[Accessed on 13th October 2015].
Hendricks, 2013. Complete History of Social Media: Then And Now. [Online]. Available
through: <http://mashable.com/2012/10/15/cellphones-smartphones/#SiPTIQfkyPqb>.
[Accessed on 13th October 2015].
Juliab, 2013. Advantages and Disadvantages of using Smartphone. [Online]. Available through:
<https://teachingwithadifference.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/advantages-and-
disadvantages-of-using-smartphones/>. [Accessed on 13th October 2015].
Kumar, A., 2013. The Evolution Of Smartphones: A Visual History. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.thewindowsclub.com/evolution-of-smartphones-history>. [Accessed on 13th
October 2015].
LinSys, 2012. 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of having Smartphone. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.eukhost.com/forums/f52/10-advantages-disadvantages-having-
smartphone-17523/>. [Accessed on 13th October 2015].
Ohta, K. and et al, 2011.Design and implementation of privacy-enhanced operation history
middleware for smartphones. Ubiquitous and Future Networks (ICUFN), 2011 Third
International Conference on. IEEE.
Reed, B., 2010. A brief history of smartphones." PC World.
Stareva, I., 2014. Where Social, Digital and Mobile are headed to in 2014. [Online]. Available
through: <http://digital-stats.blogspot.in/2014/08/smartphone-ownership-in-uk-by.html.
[Accessed on 13th October 2015].
Williams, A., 2014. How Do Smartphones Affect Childhood Psychology?. [Online]. Available
through: <http://psychcentral.com/lib/how-do-smartphones-affect-childhood-
psychology/>. [Accessed on 13th October 2015].

APPENDIX
The above figure defines the ownership of Smartphone by age and social economic
group. It can be concluded that major groups who are excessively using the Smartphone are in
between the age of 16-24 years of age group and this figure is increasing with the time.
Illustration 1: Smartphone ownership in the UK by demographic, 2012-2014
(Source: Dan, 2014)

From the figure, it can be seen that people who are using social media in UK are about
76% and the average time which they are spending on social media per day is 1.9 hours. On the
other hand, 45% are those people from 76% who are using social media in their phones.
Illustration 1: UK social indicators
(Source: Stareva, 2014)

From the above figure, it can be seen that 79% users are having their account on
Facebook and they access it every day. On the other hand, 54% users are those people who
generally do not see their account.
Illustration 1: Use of social media use in UK
(Source: Stareva, 2014)