“distracted
from distraction by distraction” – T.S Eliot
As you
read this blog, are you aware of whats happening around you? Is someone next to
you trying to get you attention while your head hangs over your smartphone or
are your eyes staring at the glare of the computer screen? Are you at a dinner
table and that the conversation is so boring that you decide to switch to your more
social life, which is your smartphone. Is there even a conversation at the
table, or is everyone too busy to interact.
So now you may not agree with me, and tell me that I need a fast track ticket to the 21st century, where everything is digital. You may even inform me that you may be on your phone because the next person is on their phone and that you won’t even bother trying to talk to them. Hey I know that few families sit at the dinner table nowadays, which some have argued that there is no time, and that you are busy.
I am not
ignorant to say that now we must all just drop our phones and all forcefully
talk to each other, for starters you phone doesn’t have a bad breath, and it’s
much easier to ignore someone on social networks, and instant chats without
being rude. Well this was true until whatsapp came with “the last seen at tab”,
which kind of makes it more difficult to lie about that.
The
point I am trying to make, as a society we should start to get worried when
people laugh literally face to face by saying LOL. This I do not understand.
Are you even really laughing? Do we even do things that make us truly happy, or
are we doing it to make our friends envious and followers worship us by posting
statuses? Look I understand that if like you just did something awesome in your
life and need to share it, that’s understandable. It becomes a problem when I
know what you’ve had for breakfast, or you are angry at John Soap for what he
did. Clearly John Smith doesn’t have phone to be texted, or called. A saying I
like, is that everyone’s life seems perfect on Facebook. If only..... And the more we live this virtual world of
ours, where everything is perfect, where do we find the time to live real life
and attend to life’s needs.
One my
favourite situations are at parties/gatherings, when you find a couple of people
on their phones sitting down, frantically texting away, and lost in their own
world. Like why are you there in the first place?, its obvious everyone at the
gathering is boring, and that your phone gives you greater satisfaction. Even
if you are a shy person, how you going to improve your social skills by being
on your phone all the time, and typing LOL when you didn't even crack a smile. I
will admit that the phone is now a great accessory to seem busy, or not
socially awkward. When you find yourself in such situations, it is easy to turn
to your phone. Yes......think back, you have done that before, and even if you
don’t talk to that person in your contact list often, you suddenly say Hi.
Maybe
I am just so much of a people’s person that I find this new trend disturbing,
but I know somewhere somehow, everyone needs people skills and the ability to
communicate with another human being properly. I also am worried about the
literacy of these phone users, as all words are abbreviated, and in all honesty
could be a new language. Some research shows that social networking has
encouraged students to write more, which is great, but we need to take it one
step further and teach them to write and speak properly.
I could
go on forever with this but, I think you get the point I am trying to prove.
For some of us we have less human interaction while having more of a digital
interaction, which in turn may make us more antisocial. On extreme cases you may find that one person
may be a Casanova on the phone, with all the right lines, but when it comes to
human interaction, it’s a complete turnaround.
So my 2
cents worth of advice to you for next time. Take time to appreciate human
interaction to see a genuine smile, to embrace that awkward moment with another
human, who won’t make you upset, when it says battery low.
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