"This is the part of me
That you’re never gonna ever take away from me, no!" - Katy Perry, lyrics to Part of Me.
Try this experiment with your phone.
Don't go on social media or any kind using your phone, don't watch a Youtube video on your phone, don't play any game on your phone, don't even decide to delete old pictures off your phone to get more space for that update.
For an entire day, don't touch your phone, don't look at it, don't even think about it.
(*unless of course someone important calls or an emergency situation arises, then answer it)
For some, it will be easy. They might just wave away that challenge and say that 'I never use my phone that much anyways,' or 'it will be a break from a small bright screen.'
For others, it will be harder. It will be like an itch they can't scratch. They will be tempted to just glance at it because you'll feel the irresistible urge. But why is that?
Part of Me
It turns out that urge look at it, to know where it is at all times can be because you might view the phone as a part of you.
Recently, I read an article on the New York Times titled, "Some People See Their Phones As Extensions of Themselves," by Lily Carollo.
The article explained that we view our phone as a part of ourselves and that it is considered by researchers as a "psychological concept" of an "extended self."
This "extended self" proves the theory that we have strong bonds with inanimate objects through the memories that we have with them. According to the article, "It's easy to see why this might happen with our phones, because we use them to communicate with loved ones, or to take pictures and record videos of special moments."
Another part of why we could be constantly with our phones is because "a phone helps people keep in touch with the Individuals to which they feel closest." (New York Times)
A bond that can't be broken
Because our phones hold some of the conversations and images of our memories, that's why it might be hard to let go of a phone with you get a new one. It might be even harder to delete those photos to get that software update in. If you are like me, and you change your phone to a new one every so often, your concern will be what will happen to the old pictures, will they be saved on the old phone, transferred over, or deleted forever.
The phone is the modern day album with other apps that fits inside your pocket. In some cases it probably describes us the best than any other item we might own. With the type of phone, and the case (or no case) and apps, we customize our phone to our liking, with the expectation that we will cherish it like it is a part of us.
Our phones connect us with other as well people and that's why we cherish it too. It holds our long-distance friendships together and kept family conversations ongoing. For all my friends to went to separate colleges, it allowed me to keep in touch with them during the school year before break.
The best item to describe anyone would be their phone. To the way it's organized and laid-out shows how organized that person is. It also shows their likes and dislikes.
Therefore, at the next ice breaker, if anyone asks, "describe yourself in four words," just say, "look at my phone." Your phone should give them enough to know what kind of person you are since your phone is just an extended part of you anyways.
