KIT311/KIT611, Semester 1: Smartphone's Societal Impact Analysis

This report examines the significant societal impacts of smartphone adoption, as explored in a sociology assignment. It begins by providing a brief background on smartphone technology and its integration into modern life, highlighting its influence on communication, learning, and daily interactions. The report then delves into the core concepts of Technological Determinism, Uses Determination, and Social Determinism, using these frameworks to analyze how smartphones have reshaped education, healthcare, and business practices. Statistical data on smartphone penetration rates in Australia is included to illustrate the extent of adoption. The report also discusses the positive and negative consequences of smartphone usage, particularly in relation to work-life balance, and the spread of misinformation. Through the application of these sociological perspectives, the report aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how smartphones have transformed various aspects of society.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Background:...............................................................................................................................4
Explanations:..............................................................................................................................5
Perspectives of Technological Determinism:.............................................................................8
Perspectives of Uses Determination:.........................................................................................8
Perspectives of Social Determinism:.........................................................................................9
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................10
References:...............................................................................................................................11

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Introduction:
The higher level of acceptance of the modern society towards the technological
advancement is observed to be a substantial trend in today’s world. The technological
advancement is present in the modern world in the form of various technological gadgets and
processes. As claimed by Crowley and Heyer (2015), the technology has a significant
influence on the modern world and that is pretty prominent with the incorporation of the
technological gadgets in the life style of the people. According to the esteemed opinion of
Anderson and Anderson (2016), the technology has the potential to influence the way in
which individuals in their communication, learning and thinking in a substantial manner.
Technology is such an important aspect in the modern world that it has the deciding power on
the ways in which people interact with one and another.
According to the comments of Agarwal and Yadav (2015), the evolution of the
mobile phone technology and the internet services are substantial evidence of the alignment
of the modern life style to the technology. Holland and Bardoel (2016), highlighted that the
technology had been an important part of the professional and personal life style of the
human beings previously, however, with each passing day, it is approaching towards
becoming the fundamental factor capable of influencing the way people lead their personal
and professional life style. The study analyses the impact of the smartphones on the society.
The study provides a brief background of the selected topic and at the same time, the study
elaborates the impact of the mobile phone adoption on the society. Along with that, the study
identifies the concepts such as the Technological Determinism, Social Determination and
Uses Determination. With accurate understanding of the concepts, the study evaluates the
impact of the smartphone on the broader society with precise application of these concepts.

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Background:
With a close consideration towards the speedy lifestyle in the modern generation, it is
understandable that the individuals have lesser amount of time to manage the array of actions
that they conduct. With enhanced corporatization, the modern individuals are observed to
find considerably limited scope for managing the personal and professional life. In such
situation, the individuals are facing the acute threat of losing their work life balance which
not only affecting their physiological health but also is damaging their mental health in a
substantial manner. As claimed by Warin and Zivkovic (2019), the individuals in today’s
world are provided with considerably little scope of interacting with their peers on regular
basis which is a major setback for them when it comes to get the much required refreshment
in their busy life style. In the context of business, the technology or more specifically the
smartphone is observed to be associated with greater significance as well and that is evident
with the fact that majority of the modern business organizations are welcoming the adoption
of the smartphones for the betterment of their business.
Having said that, Yu et al. (2018), highlighted an alarming fact with the claim that
there are several business organizations who have implemented close monitoring on the
usage of the smartphones from the part of their employees and the main reason for the same
is that, the excessive usage of the smartphones for the non- productive causes, is
detrimentally affecting the smooth management of their business actions. As a result, it is
understandable that the adoption of smartphones have both positive and negative
consequences in the organizational context. In the broader societal context, the evolution of
the smartphone is considered to be responsible for changing the dynamics of the education
industry and the way the citizens of the society intake the education services. Along with that,
Shao et al. (2015), mentioned that the adoption of the smartphones is also playing a
substantial role in the influencing the delivery and intake of the health care services by

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various communities and the societal groups. However, the appropriate analysis of the effects
of the smartphone in various domains is still an important point of consideration for assessing
the overall impact of the smartphone and the evolution of the same on the society.
Explanations:
There is substantial impacts of the mobile phone adoption in various domains of the
society. The adoption of the mobile phone has substantially changed the formation of the
education services and the delivery technique of the education services. The introduction and
evolution of the smartphones has provided substantial scope to the citizens of the society in
achieving the desired flexibility in their learning. According to the comments of McMichan,
Gibson and Rowe (2018), the physical classroom based training is largely time consuming
and at the same time, it asks for substantial amount of efforts from the part of the citizens in
acquiring knowledge. On the other hand, Arkorful and Abaidoo (2015), The role of e-
learning, advantages and disadvantages of its adoption in higher education mentioned that the
physical classroom based training is a comparatively more costly way of learning and it is
also recognized as a process of learning that is considerably low in terms of flexibility. In
such situation, the introduction of the mobile learning with the help of the smartphones
provides considerable amount of advantage to the society in creating an environment of
education which is comparatively high in terms of flexibility and at the same time, it asks for
low costing of the education services. As a result, it is understandable that the impact of the
smartphones in the education section is significant. On the other hand, Mashhadi, Quattrone
and Capra (2015), highlighted that the significance of the smartphones in the healthcare
industry is also notably high and that is evident with the fact that a major section of the
modern society are utilizing the services of their smartphones for the purchase of the
medicines and for the purchase of the medical facilities and services. The utilization of the

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smartphones is providing greater advantage to the citizens and the society as a whole in
achieving improved and flexible healthcare services.
Other than this, it is important to explore the usage of the smartphones by the general
citizens to have an adequate amount of idea regarding the intensity of the impact that the
adoption of the smartphones can have on the society.
(Information Courtesy: Smartphone penetration rate as share of the population in Australia
from 2012 to 2022)
(Information Courtesy: Statista.com. 2020)
From the statistics, it is pretty prominent that the smartphone penetration rate as share
of the population has substantially increased in recent time in Australian society and the same
is expected to increase in near future as well. In the year 2012, the smartphone penetration
rate as share of the population of Australia was 43.7% and that in the year 2016, went up to
66.06% (Statista.com. 2020). Hence the substantial rise in the percentage of the smartphone

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users in the nation is notably prominent. The growth is expected to continue and that is
visible with the increment of the percentage to 71.59% in the year 2019 (Statista.com. 2020).
With a thoughtful consideration towards the growth of the smartphone penetration rate as
share of population of Australia, it is expected that the penetration rate will go up to 74.44%
(Statista.com. 2020).
(Information Courtesy: Number of smartphone users in Australia from 2015 to 2022 (in
millions))
(Information Courtesy: Statista.com. 2020)
With a close look at the above mentioned statistics, it is visible that the number of
smartphone users in the nation, has increased in a momentous manner. In the year 2015,
Australia had 15.12 million smartphone users and the numbers in the year 2017, increased to
16.69 million (Statista.com. 2020). At the end of the year 2019, the Australian society
experienced the participation of 17.93 million smartphone users in the year 2019

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(Statista.com. 2020). With an accurate understanding of the growth, the Australian society
expects 19.27 million smartphone users by the end of 2022. Hence, it is understand able that
the Australian society has substantially adopted the smartphones (Statista.com. 2020).
Perspectives of Technological Determinism:
With a close look at the Technological Determinism, it is understandable that the
mentioned concept is divided into two broad concepts which are the internal and technical
logic which investigates the formulation of the technological systems and the artefact and on
the other hand, there is also another concept which is often utilized in the debates regarding
the Karl Marx’s theory of history which communicates a meaning of the technological
determinism as such that it is the development of the technological systems and artefacts that
identifies or results to the broader social changes (Drew 2016). Considering the concept, it is
visible that the introduction of the smartphone has changed the way in which the society
practices the intake and delivery of the education services, healthcare services, business
management, information collection, leisure time management, communication amongst the
peers, relatives and colleagues. As per the esteemed opinion of Bae (2019), the introduction
of the smartphone has made a substantial change in the way the different stakeholders of the
society communicates and at the same time, it played an important role in enhancing the level
of self- dependence of the citizens in collecting relevant and important information on
various domains for the enhancement of their knowledge. Hence, the social changes as a
result of the technological artefacts and the policies is pretty prominent.
Perspectives of Uses Determination:
With an insightful look towards the perspective of Uses Determination, it is
understandable that the concept advocates for the fact that the citizens have the basic or
primary requirement of autonomy, relatedness and competence (Lee, Lee and Hwang 2015).

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Along with that, the concept also portrays the urge and general tendency of the citizens
towards being proactive and achieve growth. With such an understanding of the concept,
Clarke and Steele (2015), mentioned that the smartphones enables different stakeholders of
the society in gathering relevant information for their own use. Along with that, the
smartphones deliver considerable amount of ease to the members of the society in being
proactive when it comes to communicate with relevant stakeholders. On the other hand, the
easy and smooth collection of the information through the utilization of the smartphones,
contributes to the growth of the members of the society in a substantial manner and that
effectively enhances the collective growth of knowledge of the society. Along with that, the
contribution of the smartphones in the management of the business perspectives, education
and the professional skill enhancement is noteworthy and that certainly shows the social
change towards being proactive and in achieving the growth.
Perspectives of Social Determinism:
Considering the social determinism theory, Jones (2016), mentioned that theory
focuses on the social constructs and the interactions which have the potential to determine the
behaviour of the members of the society and the society as a whole. Choi et al. (2015),
mentioned that, with positives, the smartphones are associated with innumerable number of
negatives as well. The smartphones enables the members of the society to manage their
financial funds through its services and in modern world, a large number of monetary
fraudulent activities are observed to take place through the smartphones. Along with that, a
lot of media consumptions is observed to be based on the fun making or comedy related
videos where an entire society laughs at an individual’s actions which may be recorded
against his or her will. In such occasions, the smooth flow of such content through the
smartphones has tremendous impact of the mental and psychological health of that particular
member of the society. In addition to this, Gowthami and Kumar (2016), highlighted an

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alarming fact with the claim that the smartphones are one of the main equipment which is
being used for the sharing the fake and manipulated information and that has the potential to
lead towards the violation of law and orders in states and at the same time, it can affect the
psychological and physical well- being of a group of members of the society of community.
As a result, it is understandable that, there are detrimental consequences as well with the
utilization of the mobile phones and that have the ability to tremendously affect the
personality of the members and individual and collective growth of the society.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it is evident that the smartphones have changed the dynamics
of the society and contributed towards the betterment of the lifestyle of the members of the
society. The evolution of the smartphones has enormously contributed towards the ability of
the society in managing the frequent changes. The smartphones have delivered considerable
number of benefits to the society which ranges from education sector, healthcare sector,
business sector, banking sector to the professional management. At the same time, there is
instances of negative impacts of the smartphones where it is used for fraudulent criminal
activities and where it caused smooth service barriers to the companies owing to excessive
usage of their employees in non- productive causes.

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References:
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Consumer Perspective. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 189, pp.252-258.
Anderson, G. and Anderson, G., 2016. The economic impact of technology infrastructure for
smart manufacturing. US Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and
Technology.
Arkorful, V. and Abaidoo, N., 2015. The role of e-learning, advantages and disadvantages of
its adoption in higher education. International Journal of Instructional Technology and
Distance Learning, 12(1), pp.29-42.
Bae, S.M., 2019. The relationship between smartphone use for communication, social capital,
and subjective well-being in Korean adolescents: Verification using multiple latent growth
modeling. Children and Youth Services Review, 96, pp.93-99.
Choi, S.W., Kim, D.J., Choi, J.S., Ahn, H., Choi, E.J., Song, W.Y., Kim, S. and Youn, H.,
2015. Comparison of risk and protective factors associated with smartphone addiction and
Internet addiction. Journal of behavioral addictions, 4(4), pp.308-314.
Clarke, A. and Steele, R., 2015. Smartphone‐based public health information systems:
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Technology, 66(12), pp.2596-2608.
Crowley, D. and Heyer, P., 2015. Communication in history: Technology, culture, society.
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Drew, R., 2016. Technological determinism. A Companion to Popular Culture, 38, p.167.

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Gowthami, S. and Kumar, S.V.K., 2016. Impact of smartphone: A pilot study on positive and
negative effects. International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Applied Science
(IJSEAS), 2(3), pp.473-478.
Holland, P. and Bardoel, A., 2016. The impact of technology on work in the twenty-first
century: Exploring the smart and dark side.
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Mashhadi, A., Quattrone, G. and Capra, L., 2015. The impact of society on volunteered
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McMichan, L., Gibson, A.M. and Rowe, D.A., 2018. Classroom-based physical activity and
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Shao, A.F., Rambaud-Althaus, C., Swai, N., Kahama-Maro, J., Genton, B., D’Acremont, V.
and Pfeiffer, C., 2015. Can smartphones and tablets improve the management of childhood
illness in Tanzania? A qualitative study from a primary health care worker’s perspective.
BMC health services research, 15(1), p.135.
Statista.com. 2020. Australia - Smartphone Penetration 2012-2022 | Statista. [online]
Available at: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/321477/smartphone-user-penetration-in-
australia/>