Cell Phones

                Smartphones provide us with a constant connection to our social circle, but is this really a good thing? I would argue that cell phones often work to  both take our attention from the things that matter, and to turn us into poor conversationalists.  

                With a cell phone one is free to communicate  through a bunch of different services like Snapchat, Facebook, and SMS. It is nice to be able to talk to our friends, but what is the value of this interaction? Do people have meaningful conversations through these venues?  I would say the answer is generally no. On apps like Snapchat it is almost impossible to have a conversation. One cannot do much more than send a picture of themselves. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but dependence on it as a means of expression can be dangerous. One does not want to get into a habit of expressing themselves with a picture and a string of 80 characters. This helps to reinforce the short attention span that is endemic of people today.

                 When communicating via text one can definitely express themselves to a greater degree, but do people take advantage of this? I would once again say that the answer is no. On a cell phone it is incredibly easy to get distracted by the breadth of options one has, and this can lead to inattentive conversations.  Personally, my attention becomes seriously fragmented on my cell phone. It is far too easy to switch between both concurrent conversations, and multiple apps, and this leads to me sending my friends half baked thoughts which are either off topic, or just completely meaningless. I do not give anyone the time they deserve, and thus conversation quickly devolves and stops.

                This can create a dangerous precedent of poor communication. Once people get used to having such frivolous and careless conversations on their phones what is to stop them from doing the same thing in real life. I sometimes find myself falling into this very trap, and it worries me. Conversations is an important aspect of daily life, and we need to work to keep it from falling prey to short attention spans. I don't mean for this to sound alarmist, obviously cell phones are here to stay, but we need to be sure we are not losing our attention spans to them. I am sure this does not apply to all people, if you are in the habit of giving conversations the attention they deserve then the medium is unimportant. I just feel that cell phones lend themselves to inattentive communication, and this is something we should all reflect on.   

                Cell phones also serve as a distraction when people are interacting in the real world. It is quite common to see a group of friends sitting together silently, because  everyone is staring at their phone.  This is silly, and it is something we should work to stop. People need to pay attention to the world around them. Phones also serve as a crutch,  whenever there is an awkward moment, say in an elevator,  everyone immediately reaches for their phone. Why not talk to the people around you? Who knows what interesting things they could have to say to you? But no, everyone needs to stay in their comfort zone and stare at their screens.

                In closing I have to say that I do not always practice what I am preaching here. I often send people dumb Snapchats, and use my phone to escape awkwardness. It is just interesting to think about how phones have affected the way we look at the world around us.     

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