Reasons Cell Phones Have Made Us Perverts

Cell phones have come a long way over the years. We went from flip phones that could barely do anything beyond making calls and sending a text to today’s smartphones, which are basically miniature computers sitting in our pockets.

Almost everyone has one. And these phones can do just about everything: take pictures, record videos, access social media, livestream events, send private messages and put almost anything online within seconds.

But with all that technology comes a darker side.

Some people aren’t using their phones simply to communicate, take family pictures or check the weather. They’re using them to watch inappropriate material in public, secretly record other people, invade someone’s privacy and capture embarrassing moments that probably never would have been recorded years ago.

So here’s my rundown of some of the ways cell phones have turned ordinary people into professional creeps.

1. People don’t always break up fights anymore

Remember when people would actually try to stop a fight?

Now, some people seem more interested in getting their phones out and hitting record. And when a fight involves someone’s clothes being ripped or pulled off, you can bet somebody is going to be standing there filming instead of helping.

The goal isn’t always to stop the chaos. Sometimes the goal is to capture the chaos.

2. Some people watch adult material in public

There was a time when watching adult material in public would have been considered completely unacceptable.

Apparently, the smartphone changed that.

Some people will sit on public transportation, in restaurants, waiting rooms or other public places with their phone in their hand watching material that was clearly meant to be private.

And somehow they act like everyone else is the weird one for noticing.

3. The “upskirt” crowd discovered smartphones

Smartphones also made it much easier for people to secretly photograph or record underneath someone’s clothing without that person’s knowledge.

That’s not harmless fun. In many jurisdictions, this type of voyeuristic recording can be a crime, and the exact laws vary by location.

The disturbing part is how easy technology has made it. A person can hide a phone in plain sight and try to make someone else’s private moment into entertainment.

4. Private moments can become somebody else’s group chat

Another problem is people secretly recording intimate or embarrassing situations and then sending the footage to friends through messaging apps.

What was once a private moment between people can suddenly become something passed around a group chat.

One person presses “send,” and the damage can spread much faster than anyone can control.

5. The camera phone turned ordinary people into subjects

People can’t even go about their everyday lives without potentially ending up in somebody else’s camera roll.

Shopping, working, exercising, walking down the street or simply minding your own business can result in somebody recording you because they find you attractive, unusual or interesting.

The problem isn’t finding someone attractive.

The problem is turning another person into content without their knowledge or consent.

The Bottom Line

Cell phones aren’t inherently bad. They have made communication easier, helped people stay connected and put an incredible amount of information at our fingertips.

But they also gave people something previous generations never had: a camera, recording studio, broadcasting station and private internet connection that fits in their pocket.

The problem isn’t the phone.

It’s what some people choose to do with it.

Because apparently, giving everyone a camera wasn’t enough.

We also gave everyone the ability to record the madness, save the madness, share the madness—and watch it again later.