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HIP HOP Culture of Mobiles - Society, Culture, Philosophy &   Technology  
Dr.Irfan Zafar 

 
In today's world we interact with mobile phones in a way that we do not do with any other device. The mobile technology has traveled a long way from being simply a device making and receiving calls to a more and more complex gadget involving cameras, organizers, text messaging, voice, video and data.

In our society which gets it's inspiration from being westernized with deep rooted intoxication of west-toxified values, the culture of mobiles is creating a different breed of generation whose life revolves around a “Hip Hop Culture of Mobiles”.

One's social status and values are not judged by morality or integrity but by the visibility and showing off of a cell which should carry an integration of features like Black Berry, MMS, SMS, WAP, Ring Tones (Polyphonic/Monophonic), Pictures, Logos, Java Games and what not. The services are un-limited so are the social and economic implications of mobile telephony to technological change and shaping teenage life.

Is the cell phone undermining our social order or effecting the sustainability of one's identity? The rapid development of the mobile phone represents technical progress, however it would be difficult to assume that there is something inherently progressive about various ways in which it is absorbed into the society and used by individuals. Eventually mobile remains a communications device having no independent existence and no power to define us. For better or for worse, 'Hip Hop Culture of Mobiles' reflects and shapes our lives. The relationship between technological devices and human behaviors is critical for understanding how we view our current social attitudes towards progress and communications.

In a society where an individual strives to earn few rupees to ensure the continuation of life for him and his family, the site of teenagers with plenty to spend, moving around holding expensive devices is simply widening the gulf between have and have not's and beginning to re-shape a community totally divided on the basis of monitory considerations. The end result will simply be a total aggression towards this “In Crowd” leading to snatching, stealing, retaliating by force by those who cannot afford or even see the sight of un-just distribution of wealth as is being witnessed now in different parts of the country. The ramifications also lead towards destruction of moral values of economically less fortunate teenagers in cases where they are prepared to loose their morality to gain access to the In-Culture of Hip Hop Mobiles by promoting the retrogression to simple pre-modern patterns of social life.

It's not un-common to observe the site of students, participants of d
ifferent presentation's and forums exchanging text messages of love and chat while the un-fortunate speaker is trying his best to put some sense around the heads. It however has definitely given power to the individuals to listen while not being mentally there, power to give impression of being present while being lost in an un-ending string of texts appearing from different parts of the world and surely the power of self destruction and deceiving ones own self. Yes the “Power”, if you may wish to call it.

Where can we go from here?. Mobile technology is too powerful to limit the potentials of a business world and triggers certain trends which may worry few but not all. However how we adopt all this, positively or negatively, while maintaining a critical perspective on its cultural implications is a key question and it's solution is fortunately entirely up to us.

The writer is a Social Activist and can be reached at irfanzafar@msn.com

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