My iPhone has destroyed me and my social skills. I am on it constantly and can't get myself to stop. In fact, I don't think there is an hour that goes by where I have not checked my cell phone at least ten times. Maybe my case is a little extreme, but I think everyone can admit to some sort of cell-phone addiction. Because of the constant usage of our iPhones (or Blackberry's or flip phones if you're stuck in the '90s), we have all become crazed. What is it that draws us to our cell-phones? But more importantly, why is it that this constant usage of our cell phones is destroying our social skills? Why is it harder to look someone in the eye when having a conversation? Why have we become so lazy that we text a person 10 feet away from us? Why have we stopped communicating properly?
Our iPhones have made us addicted to a screen.
Have you realized that when you walk, you are constantly looking down? Because we are constantly looking down at our phones, we have become so accustomed to this view of the world; the ground. No longer are we looking up and smelling the roses (not that many of us did that before, but you see what I'm getting at). We bump into people on the sidewalk and don't look both ways before crossing the street because we are checking our texts or simply scrolling through Instagram.
We have become lazy people with no drive to get out of the house.
Why would we leave the house? We can FaceTime our friends while we both watch Netflix with a bowl of popcorn in our hands. No longer do we have to waste gas on driving to someone else's house just to watch the same show. With the creation of Postmates, Grubhub, and Order Up, we do not even go out to eat anymore. It can be brought right to our doorstep with the touch of a button. But is this really a good thing? I believe it is unhealthy that we are not leaving the house while there is a beautiful world outdoors waiting for us.
Social media gives us major anxiety.
"OMG, it has been 30 minutes since I checked my iPhone, WHAT DID I MISS?!" This is a constant thought going through all of our heads whether you want to admit it or not. We have become so involved in other people's lives, some of whom we barely even know. Whether it is through Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, we are checking our friend's posts all the time. And when you don't like one of your best friends pictures within an hour of when he or she posted it, don't even bother commenting. You are probably already in the burn book. There is so much pressure that goes along with social media that having our iPhones in our hands 24/7 really doesn't help. I even feel pressured to watch every "Tasty" video or else I feel like I am not a loyal follower. It can be really quite stressful.
We have become horrible communicators.
After having an iPhone for quite some time now, I have realized that I am not very good at looking people in the eye. I am so used to looking at my screen, that looking someone in the eye actually makes me pretty nervous. Also, when in an uncomfortable situation, I find it easier to just look at my phone and pretend like I'm doing something (if I am the only one who does that then this just got really awkward). Because I have such an easy escape from weird situations and what not, my phone has almost become a security blanket.
We have become horrible communicators (part 2).
Yup, that's right. I am not done talking about this one. We now abbreviate words when talking to people, we text someone that is upstairs or even 10 feet away, and if you want to tell someone how you really feel, there is no need to meet up in person to talk about it, we have text for that! That one probably irks me the most and I am the most guilty of it. Whenever we want to have serious conversations, we let our iPhones do the talking. Not only does this often get misinterpreted, but it can make a serious talk turn into a bigger deal than it needed to be. For goodness sake, why can't we just sit down and talk about our feelings in person like the old days?!
We need to start looking up and seeing the world for what it really is. Human interaction is a necessity in life that we must indulge ourselves in. Not only is this a healthy way of life, but it sure beats sitting at home alone watching reruns of "Friends" (yes that is me who I am talking about). It is time to put down our iPhones and experience all that this world has to offer.
