A New Social Wave

Walking in the halls of the Academic Bridge Programs, all I notice is pairs of eyes staring on tiny devices in their hands. What I witness is the new teenage culture that lies in the hand of virtual chatting and new ways of living, literally. Anyone these days can develop a social life with popularity thanks to a small device. The first step is affording it and its service; that itself sets new grounds to a person and their ability to fit themselves in the “cool hood” with a small device. This device is called BlackBerry. It spread like a raging fire throughout Qatar and the Middle East. Why? It’s simply because it gives a person the ability to carry around their instant messaging programs, search engines and other multimedia programs.

The real issue here is the product consumption; this device is becoming obsessive with most teenagers. In Qatar, BlackBerry spread through word-of-mouth. I remember when I first saw an ad for BlackBerry; it wasn’t really appealing to me. My sister bought a BlackBerry device and I told her it would suck. Then I notice some students in my school using it. They seemed to absent from this world. I thought it was just a phase until one of my close friends got one and I barely heard from him anymore. Even when we go out, he never seems to hear me or feel his environment. He just walks with his eyes attached to that tiny screen. It didn’t take long before I decide that I needed to get one too. (Picture on the right: BlackBerry in school environment.)

It’s most useful when I want to Google something quick, or sign on MSN for a long time and chat. I am not addicted to it myself, however many of the people around me are. My school environment is one example of this addiction. The BlackBerry is everywhere and out-thrown the iPhone; it would make me feel like an alien if I didn’t have a one. The video below is a series of mini-interviews with some of the students who do own this device. You can tell that some are heavily attached to this latest manifestation of social life.