Be careful with your smartphone while walking. Photo = Provided by Korea Transportation Safety Authority
■Kim Kyung-soo’s Media Literacy-(32)
The biggest keyword in 2020 was ‘COVID-19’. At that time, a quasi-wartime situation unfolded, including wearing masks, social distancing, online classes, and working from home, and this period lasted about two years.
Next, ‘ChatGPT’ emerged as the top issue of 2023. Since then, various generative AIs have been released. The era of multimodal and homo-prompt, where pictures, videos, and music appear just by entering text, has begun.
In addition, keywords such as the 4th industrial revolution, metaverse, and artificial intelligence became popular, and apps such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Thread grew, but from an individual’s perspective, the use of computers and smartphones ultimately increased.
The causes are changes in the Earth’s environment and technological competition between big tech companies. Thanks to this, we can enjoy various benefits, but because of this, future risks are increasing. What are the risks of the future?
First, there is a risk of accident. You can see smombies walking while looking at their smartphones anywhere, and statistics show that more than 4 out of 10 drivers are looking at their smartphones. It is a potential future risk that anyone can become a perpetrator or a victim.
Second, there are health risks. There is a risk of eye diseases, joint diseases such as the neck and back, digestive diseases such as indigestion and obesity, and mental diseases such as insomnia and depression due to lack of sleep.
Third, there is a risk of defeat. Overdependence on smartphones inevitably leads to decreased concentration, which can lead to decreased grades and performance. We must not overlook the danger that this may become a habit and lead to defeat in life.
Fourth and fifth, there is a risk of lack of communication and distrust. The longer people spend looking at their smartphones, the less communication between family members, and this lack of communication can lead to social distrust and cause various accidents and crimes. Isn’t the recent terrorist attack on a certain party leader also ultimately caused by the media?
The problem is that the countermeasures against this are close to inaction. The measure is ‘Media Literacy Education.’ This is the ability to read, understand, and use media.
The ability to understand and use a smartphone is smartphone literacy. Anyone can develop this ability if they have the will.
To achieve this, it is necessary to look at smartphones from various perspectives and establish minimum principles of moderation.
For example, from a spatial perspective, you can set a principle of never taking your smartphone into the ‘bathroom’ or ‘bed’, and from a temporal perspective, you can set a principle of not looking at your smartphone at least ‘when driving’ or ‘while walking’. there is.
From a hardware perspective, you can use ‘silent’ or ‘do not disturb mode’, and from a software perspective, you need the courage to delete apps other than those that are absolutely necessary, such as Instagram or game apps.
From a physical perspective, it is necessary to at least practice the principle of not looking at the smartphone in ‘dark places’ and, if you must, use ‘blue light blocking’ or ‘dark mode’, and from a mental perspective, set rules that suit your situation. You need a habit of ‘digital detox’, i.e. a pledge to keep your smartphone at least 1m away whenever you have time.
Tools for humans have the duality that the more useful they are, the more dangerous they are. For example, just as a knife is a great cooking tool but can become a weapon, YouTube and AI can be useful libraries but can also become a cause of addiction.
Is the future of various diseases, accidents, failures, and lack of communication caused by smartphones an exaggerated guess? Anyone can predict the future by observing the children and teenagers around them who are obsessed with smartphones.
There is nothing more precious than safety. Anyone can practice literacy. I hope that this new year will be a year of preventing anger and receiving blessings through smartphone literacy.
Kyungsoo Kim, Professor, Graduate School of Cultural Studies, Chonnam National University
2024-01-07 04:32:00
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