OK, OK before I begin, let me make it clear that, overall, I love cell phones. They're super convenient gadgets that connect you to millions of people all around that world at any given second and they literally allow you to have the world at your fingertips!
But the problem with all this connectivity is that there's too much of it. Sure, it's great to be able to keep in touch with friends while you're away from each other, but the increasing use of this technology seems to be decreasing our interpersonal communication skills. When you're hanging out with friends, I'd bet much of that time is spent checking your phone for Facebook notifications or Snapchats from other people. We've all been there, believe me.
But do you not see something wrong with that? If you're hanging out with people in person, but you're spending a lot of time looking at your phone, why did you even bother to hang out in person anyway, when you could've just texted each other in a group chat and would have probably accomplished the same things you did while sitting around barely talking to each other? We're so caught up in our own digital world in our pockets that we can't seem to get caught up in where we actually are in that moment.
I went on a date a few months ago (never thought that would happen, but it did) and it was the only night I can remember that I willingly didn't use my phone for a few consecutive hours. The real reason for this was that I noticed the guy I was with wasn't using his phone at all while we were together, and it shocked me. I mean, we were out for at least three hours and I don't remember seeing this kid check his phone once. It was such a foreign thing to me! But once I noticed that he wasn't using his phone, I decided to tuck mine away into my coat pocket and forget about it, as well. And to be honest, it was one of the most fun nights I've ever remembered having. We actually had meaningful conversations with each other, and I never had to question whether or not he was actually paying attention to anything I was saying since he didn't have a glowing phone screen in front of his face to distract him.
That night made me realize how much our cell phones take away from experiencing life. Nowadays, you go to a concert and see all these phones in the air, trying to take pictures or videos of the artists on stage. That's no way to experience something as amazing and uplifting as a live concert. I'm not saying you shouldn't take a picture or a video, but don't spend the entire concert doing so. You're there to see an artist you love, not hide behind a screen to document the performance just so you can relive what you missed after the show is over.
Even talking to people in person is strange now. You fight with other people over texts because it's easier to hide behind the screen than to scream in another person's face. You have a serious conversation about your feelings with your significant other over texts so you don't have to do it in person and risk feeling even more vulnerable because you're scared of feeling.
What's so wrong about that? What's so wrong about feeling, experiencing, living? We gush over travel videos made by two people who seem to be very much in love and rant about how much we'd want something like that yet we're too afraid to go say hi to that cute guy in our 50-person class. So instead, you opt to send him a friend request on Facebook and hope he notices you. News flash: he probably won't.
So yeah, cell phones and technology in general has certainly made it easier to communicate with other people, but they take out so much emotion and life from the words you're saying. I know most of us value real, deep connections with other people and would do anything to have life-changing experiences around the world, but how are we supposed to make any of that happen from behind a screen?
