Thesis...take two...

...same project...new topic. I originally tried to write this post from my mobile phone a week or two ago (because I knew it would be a while before I'd sit my happy self in front of a real computer to write this) and it just didn't happen due to cell phone logistics.

So, for all of you holding your breath about my Thesis (with a capital-T, because it's That. Dang. Important.) I'd like to introduce you to my new topic, which has been discussed with my Thesis advisor, so it's likely I won't change it for the 20th time (I'm not joking). I've decided to write about how cell phones affect one's well-being, particularly their social connectedness with others.

This idea sprouted from a "wouldn't it be funny if" moment I was having. I thought if I could go into a classroom and take everyone's cell phones from them to see what happened, it'd be a pretty interesting result. And so the topic was formulated.

Nomophobia, or fear of being without your mobile phone, is an actual phenomenon. John Tesh talked about it on his radio program. And, there's even one, count it, ONE article in the PsychInfo (EBSCO) database referring explicitly to nomophobia. I think it's odd, intriguing and funny all at the same time. And it's startlingly curious that we've turned into a compulsively text messaging society with an actual phobia related to the device we're using to text given that in 2001, we didn't even have text messaging (Wei & Lo, 2006).

I'm not going to APA-style this reference, but if you're curious, the name of the article I'm referring to is "Staying connected while on the move: Cell phone use and social connectedness," by Wei and Lo.