by There’s no denying that life in the 21st century is very different from what it was 10 years ago. Thanks to the rise of the internet, and more specifically, the mobile phone, we’re seeing changes in business, social behaviour, and communication in ways that we’d never seen before.
Here are three ways Mobile has impacted our lives
How we do business
Thanks to the rise of mobile technology, you can now have meetings with anyone in the world, any time of the day or night.
This constant connectivity has also impacted business by allowing employees to work while on the go.
Many business-orientated tech companies and products now offer mobile apps and services which allow you to begin your work on one device and then continue on a different one.
Companies such as Amazon.com, Uber, and AirBnb, also owe their success to the improvement of mobile technology.
Locally, companies such as SnapScan rely solely on mobile phones to function. The rise of mobile payments and services (including Apple Pay and Android Pay) have changed the way we purchase goods and services online and in physical locations.
Smartphones are now more powerful than computers were 5 years ago. This improvement in processing power combined with mobility makes them the perfect on-the-go computer and is integral to many businesses.
How we socialise (and date)
Mobile has not only changed the way we do business, it has also changed the way we interact with each other.
As we have become more connected, we’ve adjusted the way we’ve done traditionally social things, such as dating or celebrating a birthday.
Just a few years ago, if your friend had mentioned that they had met someone on the popular dating app, Tinder, you would’ve given them a strange look. Nowadays, it’s become the norm to include Tinder as a way to meet new people, so much so that the terms “swipe left” and “swipe right” are immediately understood as a reference to whether or not you’d give someone a chance (romantically).
The way we celebrate special occasions has also changed thanks to our adoption of photography and video apps and services such as Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube.
It’s not that unusual to see a group of millennials, and Gen Z, sitting at a table taking pictures of their meal before they eat it.
How we communicate
Every app and platform worth its salt has a messaging function.
Facebook not only has Facebook Messenger, it also owns WhatsApp. Snapchat began as a way to share pictures with your friends but now also includes an instant messaging function.
In an age where phone calls are an almost extinct species and Gen Z does not know how to use email, instant messaging has become the default means of communication amongst your friends, colleagues, and loved ones. After all, what’s better than sending a message, being able to see when the recipient has not only received it but also read it?
For better or worse, we’ve become a digital society, choosing to share our entire lives online.
