If somebody pulled out a gun on a crowded train you were riding on, would you notice? People in San Francisco didn't. Why? Because they were too into their smartphones. Smartphones run people’s lives at every level. But unless you exercise restraint and caution and become a responsible digital citizen, the convenience of modern technology may be far less rewarding than the trouble it causes. Indiscriminate smartphone use may lead to full-blown mental addiction and obsessive compulsiveness. The way you interact with others via your smartphone sends out subtle waves of information which can alter your social landscape by either drawing you in or pushing you away from your friends. Learn how smartphones give commerce and government a way of profiling and tracking you. Never before has one device gathered so much data about an individual. Indiscriminate use of your cellphone may get you into some serious legal hot water and if it doesn’t do that, it can easily undermine your productivity, erode your relationships and dilute your friendships, leaving you depressed and listless towards life. Is the nature of social media and smartphone usage so strong so that it is becoming a human plague? Does the proliferation of the smartphone create an atmosphere of shallowness and weaken the human capacity for empathy?
