You’re out for dinner with a few friends when you hear your phone buzz against the table. You ignore it for a moment, but it buzzes again and because you have no self control you just have to see who it is. You tell yourself that you will quickly see who it is and put my phone back down. However, we all know that is not the case: You will most definitely be sucked into a back and forth texting sesh. You, like me, come up with reasons why you need to respond: What if you forget later, what if it's an emergency, etc.

But wait a second, what about the people at your table? One of our generation' biggest downfalls is that we have forgotten (or rather, choose to ignore) the importance of sitting down and enjoying someone else's company. It's funny that giving someone your undivided attention is a big deal these days. Next time you're out, look around. It's common to see a group of friends or a couple not talking and sitting on their phones. There's even a YouTube video that depicts how this affects our social life:

Don’t get me wrong, being able to connect with friends and family from all over the world at the touch of my fingertips is amazing. I feel incredibly lucky that I can share my day-to-day with my best friends in other states via calling, texting and an endless amount of social media platforms. The downfall comes when a friend wants to spend time with YOU, not your phone. It may seem like a second here, a quick update there, but you down realize that scrolling through your Instagram feed is actually really time consuming.

The rise of technology and social media has given us numerous advantages, but it has also caused real relationships to slowly drift apart. Quality time gets pushed to the side, while a celebrity's update on Twitter gets your undivided attention.

So next time you are out with a friend put your phone away and let yourself become fully submerged in the moment. Appreciate the fact that you are sitting across the table from an actual person and not a bright screen.

Are you addicted to your smartphone? Do you catch yourself scrolling through Insta instead of enjoying a conversation? Tell us in the comments!