Mobile media and social networking services have made people feel the need to constantly check updates to feel important. This addiction has dangerous effects, as texting while driving significantly increases accident risks. Additionally, lost or stolen smartphones allow access to personal information and banking details, becoming a new threat for robberies. Excessive use of these services also blurs information value and compromises privacy as location data is tracked without user awareness.

1. The Mobile Media Addiction A presentation By: Evan Konarek Photo: iammattyc, flickr

2. Our constant connection to services like Facebook make us feel more important. Photo: ivanlanin, flickr

3. The more connections we make in the social media virtual world, the greater our sense of importance. Photo: jeffnbrooke, flickr

4. Photo: Dan Fegent,flickr To maintain this sense of importance we need to constantly check these services and follow our progress on them, often with the use of mobile technology. We are addicted.

5. Are we all egotistical, or is it that we are in constant need of reassurance that we are popular? Photo : Southern_Comfort, flickr

6. Regardless of the importance of the messages , people are reading them, and this is why the sender continues to write them. Photo: Official BlackBerry Images, flickr

7. I agree with Alastair Hazell that it is annoying how people use these media to make updates about the most inane things in their life; “Perhaps Twitter should change its initial question to say: so, what makes you think you’re so bloody interesting today?” –Alastair Hazell Photo: nreddin, flickr

8. Photo: pacheepaparazzi, flickr With the overuse of these media for meaningless things, the line is blurred between information that is actually important and information that is completely insignificant.

9. The overuse of these media in our lives can sometimes have dangerous effects. Photo: chego101, flickr

10. Texting while driving obviously takes our focus away from the road. It causes a large number of accidents. Approximately 25% of accidents are caused by texting while driving. Source: Edgar Snyder & Associates, a Law Firm http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html Photo: mrJasonWeaver, flickr

11. Studies show: the response time of a texting driver is slower than that of a drunk driver(at legal limit). source:Texting while driving is more dangerous than drink-driving, By : Helen Nugent Photo: okszigen, flickr

12. People know the danger, but still continue to text while driving. Why? Photo: JaredAlden, flickr

13. Andrew Clark in his article argues,(somewhat sarcastically) that it is in fact our view that we are all really important that causes us to continually check our cell phone even when risking our lives to do it. Photo: mag3737, flickr

14. This is a very bad habit, but if we are expecting to stay constantly in touch and connected with the world around us, how else would we do this while driving? Photo: n_r_h85, flickr

15. These devices are also dangerous to us in less obvious ways. Photo: ricksphotos101, flickr

16. Smartphones are the do everything device, making it possible for people to do their banking and access other password protected functions on the go. Photo: Rob Winters, flickr

17. Photo: myretailmedia, flickr As discussed in anarticle by Blake Ellis, smartphones are one of the most “dangerous” possessions we own. If a phone is stolen, the thief has easy access to the majority of a person’s social life, as well as other important information such as bank account numbers.

18. Photo: ‘09 Spyder, flickr With mobile banking use expected to increase by 55% in the next year, according to the Tower Group, this has become a very serious problem. The door is open for an entirely new type of bank robbery.

19. As discussed in the article By: Glenn Harlan Reynolds,the police already have devices they can use to extract data such as web history, SIM data and much more. Such a device is quite powerful and would be disturbing if used in the wrong way. Photo: Chad Case, flickr

20. Privacy is further compromised by the information these devices are saving... Photo: robrtelves, flickr

21. According to Charles Arthur: there is a secret file on the iphone that tracks the exact movement of the user and stores both the location and time. Photo: Wendy Wesa, flickr

22. This is a great example of how these devices make this personal information more public than ever before. Photo: ichewmylips, flickr

23. A thief could learn a person’s exact schedule, and plan to intercept them when they are most vulnerable. Photo: cgill, flickr

24. Mobile media has made our lives much easier, but in doing so it has supplied us with another drug to which we have become addicted. And like most addictive drugs, our overuse of it can have dangerous side effects. Photo: Gregory Cinque, flickr

25. All images are licensed under the creative commons non-commercial share-alike 3.0 agreement, and are sourced from flicker Photo: Kieran001, flickr

26. Articles used Does texting while driving make sense to you? By: Andrew Clark. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/car-life/road-sage/does-texting-while-driving-make-sense-to-you/article1916578/ Smartphone Searches Not So Smart—Analysis By: Glenn Harlan Reynolds http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/are-smartphone-searches-legal-5603061?src=rss iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go By: Charles Arthur http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/20/iphone-tracking-prompts-privacy-fears Your most dangerous possession? Your Smartphone By: Blake Ellis http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/11/pf/smartphone_dangers/index.htm The Self-Importance Of Being Social By: Alastair Hazell http://pointlessbanter.net/2009/12/15/the-self-importance-of-being-social/ Texting while driving is more dangerous than drink-driving By: Helen Nugent http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/news/article4776063.ece Lost Smartphone puts your money and information at high risk By: RJ and Makay http://www.rjandmakay.com/rj-and-makay/lost-smartphone-puts-your-money-and-information-at-high-risk.html