{"id":351,"date":"2025-10-07T21:52:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T04:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/?p=351"},"modified":"2025-10-07T21:52:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T04:52:40","slug":"my-evocative-object-what-is-life-without-my-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/archives\/351","title":{"rendered":"My Evocative Object: What is life without my phone."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Introduction <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decided to focus my evocative object project on my phone. It\u2019s something people use everyday\u00a0some more than others and I definitely fall into the everyday category. I\u2019ve had either an iPhone or iPod since I was ten, and the moment I got it, my life changed forever. When I was younger I didn\u2019t rely on my device as much. I would mostly use it to contact my friends, listen to music or take photos and it was what introduced me to photography. But with the rise of short-form content, I\u2019ve become even more connected to my phone because it allows me to enter a new space or world. Social media apps for instance Tiktok or Instagram help me create a new identity online as a person who is more reserved. However my attention span has significantly gone down and it has made it hard to focus on any content or conversation lasting more than 5 minutes. Whether I am eating, cleaning or working out, I constantly feel the need to check my phone. It\u2019s the dopamine rush from the content, and the emotions tied to the information stored within it. Even if I don’t want to use it, whether I want\u00a0 to contact someone or see what\u2019s happening in the world, I will eventually need my phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember my anthropology teacher once asked the class why so many students always have AirPods in their ears. I didn\u2019t raise my hand to answer, but I realized that like my phone and my AirPods have a similar effect. It’s not a coincidence these technologies are designed to capture our attention and keep us hooked, which is the scary part but it all relates to our conversation about semiotics. Even though I am aware of this it\u2019s a habit I can\u2019t seem to break. Instead of waking up craving breakfast I crave the instant feeling of gratification that this piece of technology releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Connection to Turkle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My evocative object reading ” My laptop”<\/em> also highlights my relationship with my phone. The protagonist describes unable to \u2018\u2019complete a thought without cracking it open and accessing a file of old notes, or hopping online and Googling a fact or two\u2019\u2019(Turkle, 2007) Ironically, I was on TikTok when I saw someone mention that she needed to stop using autocorrect because she had become so dependent on it that she struggled to spell words on her own. It’s small features like autocorrect, Grammarly and others that keep me tied to my phone. Without them I sometimes feel uncertain about my ability to form correct sentences or spell familiar words. I don\u2019t think technology should replace our human abilities but rather support them. Unfortunately, for myself and many others that balance has been lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting back to the meaning of evocative, Turkle, in her essay \u2019\u2019What Makes an Object Evocative?\u2019\u2019 explains how everyday objects become part of our \u2018\u2019inner life\u2019\u2019 (Turkle, 2007) and \u2018\u2019help us make our minds, reaching out to us to form active partnerships\u2019\u2019(Turkle, 2007). Though my phone isn’t human it still has an emotional impact on me as if it were. This connects to our in-class discussion about signs, semiotics and meaning. For example, if someone texts me, \u2018\u2019I need to tell you something!\u2019\u2019 my reaction changes depending on that single exclamation mark it signals urgency and triggers an emotional response. Similarly, emojis on our phone can have multiple interpretations and digital communication can easily be misunderstood.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However I don’t think technology is inherently bad as Turkle also notes when discussing the invention of the clock and how it changed how people viewed time. I believe my phone can support me rather than control me but that requires effort. I can set limits on my apps, put my phone away during smaller tasks, and focus on connecting with people in person rather than scrolling through social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The discussion around technology \u2018\u2019taking over our lives\u2019\u2019 is important because it raises questions about the future, what direction society is healing in and how we can ensure technology supports rather than dominates us. There’s no easy solution since people use devices for different purposes. For instance, schools use technology for research, libraries use it to preserve historical archives and corporations rely on it for data storage and communication. As individuals, we must learn how to use technology in ways that enhance our daily lives instead of replacing essential human experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, I enjoy my phone and sometimes feel I can\u2019t function without it, but I\u2019m learning to find balance. I want my phone to support me, not control me. Turkle’s collection of readings highlights the emotional and psychological connections we form with these evocative objects and how they can influence us. Learning about Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce has deepened my understanding of how technology can effect us emotionally through language, signs and symbols. Overall, phones are great tools but we need to learn how to use them without letting them control our emotions and actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biblography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkle, S. (2007).\u00a0Things we think with<\/em>. The MIT Press; JSTOR. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/j.ctt5hhg8p<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkle, S. (2007). WHAT MAKES AN OBJECT EVOCATIVE? In S. Turkle (Ed.),\u00a0Evocative Objects: Things We Think With<\/em>\u00a0(pp. 307\u2013327). The MIT Press. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/j.ctt5hhg8p.39<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newitz, A. (2007). MY LAPTOP. In S. Turkle (Ed.),\u00a0Evocative Objects: Things We Think With<\/em>\u00a0(pp. 86\u201391). The MIT Press. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/j.ctt5hhg8p.14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/images.pexels.com\/photos\/1181675\/pexels-photo-1181675.jpeg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction I decided to focus my evocative object project on my phone. It\u2019s something people use everyday\u00a0some more than others and I definitely fall into the everyday category. I\u2019ve had either an iPhone or iPod since I was ten, and the moment I got it, my life changed forever. When I was younger I didn\u2019t … Continue reading My Evocative Object: What is life without my phone.<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,55],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other","tag-my-evocative-object","tag-turkle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}