Current Events > Are we too absorbed into our smartphones these days?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've noticed that many people can't go a few minutes without checking their phone. Even with family, we could all be watching TV but everyone is in their own world. It also seems that people have shorter attention spans.
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"No," he posted from his smartphone.
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I see it really bad with women in my experience. They will literally walk down a hallway towards you with their heads buried in their phone and I don't move for them anymore.

Oh and they are ALWAYS the first to apologize, even though I saw coming.
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Zurkon posted...

No, there's nothing wrong with being connected to other people through it.

I'm mainly referring to being so into it that it interferes with your real life conversations/interactions. For example, in the middle of talking and someone tells you "hold on" so that they can text for 2 minutes.
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Johnny_Nutcase posted...

I see it really bad with women in my experience. They will literally walk down a hallway towards you with their heads buried in their phone and I don't move for them anymore.

Oh and they are ALWAYS the first to apologize, even though I saw coming.

That too. If you walk down the sidewalk, every block has several people walking and looking down at their phones.
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I hate to sound like an old man, but...where I work all the "kids" (16-22 year olds) are like GLUED to their fucking phones. It's like every hour they take a "bathroom" break so they can text for 20 minutes. It's fucking ridiculous.

Like, I can stay up all night zoned out on video games, but I can also fucking put them down when it's time. I've gone days with no video games, but it seems like people lately can't go an hour with out their damn phone. It's worse than the damn smokers.

Zurkon posted...

Vol2tex posted...

Zurkon posted...

No, there's nothing wrong with being connected to other people through it.

I'm mainly referring to being so into it that it interferes with your real life conversations/interactions. For example, in the middle of talking and someone tells you "hold on" so that they can text for 2 minutes.

Interrupting a real life conversation for a call or text has always been rude, I won't do that. I pretty much live on my phone from when I wake up to when I go to bed though and the reason is mostly to read and connect with people.

So when there's an outage your whole world literally shuts down? See that's sad.
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Zurkon posted...

Vol2tex posted...

Zurkon posted...

No, there's nothing wrong with being connected to other people through it.

I'm mainly referring to being so into it that it interferes with your real life conversations/interactions. For example, in the middle of talking and someone tells you "hold on" so that they can text for 2 minutes.

Interrupting a real life conversation for a call or text has always been rude, I won't do that. I pretty much live on my phone from when I wake up to when I go to bed though and the reason is mostly to read and connect with people.

I am on my phone very often too but lately I feel like we could be losing touch with reality, that we're constantly in a virtual world. We don't really take the time out to enjoy things around us. Taking constant pictures or videos of experiences seems to frequently be done for social media attention rather than inherently valuing the experience.
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Some people are but most people use it for a utility or business or a small break from those. Like, I'm constantly accused of being on my phone a lot but Instagram is where I do most of my business, so when people see me on the train "mindlessly smart phoning," I'm actually building my career and trying to make something of myself, and I believe that is true for most young people on their phones. To complain about that is to complain about someone spending too much time in the office or working too much, which is patently un-American.

I don't see the inherent value of watching tv as a family being any better than watching tv while texting as a family. It's not exactly like you're having meaningful conversations either way.
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Millennials posted...

Some people are but most people use it for a utility or business or a small break from those. Like, I'm constantly accused of being on my phone a lot but Instagram is where I do most of my business, so when people see me on the train "mindlessly smart phoning," I'm actually building my career and trying to make something of myself, and I believe that is true for most young people on their phones. To complain about that is to complain about someone spending too much time in the office or working too much, which is patently un-American.

This is all fine. You have to admit though, there is A LOT of people that get "too absorbed" and cause wrecks or walk into shit That's the whole point of TC's topic, people have to jump in and defend relentlessly though.
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Jiek_Fafn posted...

I don't see the inherent value of watching tv as a family being any better than watching tv while texting as a family. It's not exactly like you're having meaningful conversations either way.

I feel that, by being with someone and doing any activity and choosing to text or browse the internet on your phone, you are not giving the person your full attention. If you are watching a TV show in your example and you make a comment, the other person may likely be texting and not even hear your comment or barely pay attention.

If you're walking and texting, you are not fully paying attention to your environment.
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what do you mean we

Vol2tex posted...

I feel that, by being with someone and doing any activity and choosing to text or browse the internet on your phone, you are not giving the person your full attention. If you are watching a TV show in your example and you make a comment, the other person may likely be texting and not even hear your comment or barely pay attention.

Times are different...its really not that hard to watch a movie with someone, converse about it and also send out a few texts...if you're completely disengaged i get it, but i don't think that's the smart phones fault..

Vol2tex posted...

Jiek_Fafn posted...

I don't see the inherent value of watching tv as a family being any better than watching tv while texting as a family. It's not exactly like you're having meaningful conversations either way.

I feel that, by being with someone and doing any activity and choosing to text or browse the internet on your phone, you are not giving the person your full attention. If you are watching a TV show in your example and you make a comment, the other person may likely be texting and not even hear your comment or barely pay attention.

If you're walking and texting, you are not fully paying attention to your environment.

Yeahhhh. Even though people shut up during a movie or TV show, they still catch something on there that makes them interact with each other.
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TheVipaGTS posted...

Vol2tex posted...

I feel that, by being with someone and doing any activity and choosing to text or browse the internet on your phone, you are not giving the person your full attention. If you are watching a TV show in your example and you make a comment, the other person may likely be texting and not even hear your comment or barely pay attention.

Times are different...its really not that hard to watch a movie with someone, converse about it and also send out a few texts...if you're completely disengaged i get it, but i don't think that's the smart phones fault..

Were not blaming the phone. It's the PEOPLE using them.
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Yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADOPimz3d6w

Nah
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Gojak_v3 posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADOPimz3d6w

Nah

I know it's an extreme example, but that's what saddens me. Many people are so into their phones that they become oblivious to the world around them.

It's a double-edged sword.
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Nobody is obsessed with their smartphone. They're obsessed with the things they're doing on their smartphone. Take the phone away and they'll find another way to do it.
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Zurkon posted...

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

This is all fine. You have to admit though, there is A LOT of people that get "too absorbed" and cause wrecks or walk into shit That's the whole point of TC's topic, people have to jump in and defend relentlessly though.

A few of them, yes, but if you're implying it's a wide spread occurrence then, no. The majority of people can use a phone and focus on where they're walking.

Then you do you mind explaining to me why "Don't text and drive" is plastered all over ambulances and billboards across America if it's just a few people? Walking and texting? I see it EVERY DAY.
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Zurkon posted...

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

This is all fine. You have to admit though, there is A LOT of people that get "too absorbed" and cause wrecks or walk into shit That's the whole point of TC's topic, people have to jump in and defend relentlessly though.

A few of them, yes, but if you're implying it's a wide spread occurrence then, no. The majority of people can use a phone and focus on where they're walking.

Walking in Manhattan at least, nearly every block I have to avoid people walking towards me on an angle because they are looking at their phones. I think it happens more frequently than you would think.
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Zurkon posted...

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Zurkon posted...

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

This is all fine. You have to admit though, there is A LOT of people that get "too absorbed" and cause wrecks or walk into shit That's the whole point of TC's topic, people have to jump in and defend relentlessly though.

A few of them, yes, but if you're implying it's a wide spread occurrence then, no. The majority of people can use a phone and focus on where they're walking.

Then you do you mind explaining to me why "Don't text and drive" is plastered all over ambulances and billboards across America if it's just a few people? Walking and texting? I see it EVERY DAY.

Because a few people out there do it, like I just said. It's sad that people have gotten hurt or died over it and those signs should be up. It's not the majority of people though, like you seem to think.

A few people fuck goats in this country. I don't see that being an issue warranting a tag line across a fucking ambulance. They like to pick and choose what's IMPORTANT.
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Zurkon posted...

No, there's nothing wrong with being connected to other people through it.

He's referring more to the thing where you can be mid conversation with someone or trying to have dinner and they randomly pull out their phone to check notifications or send texts. Or when you're watching TV or a movie and you notice the person you're watching it with pull their phone out to send some texts or check social media or something then will be like "what did I miss?" Or when you have a bf/gf in bed together, not talking or doing anything, just sitting there independently on their phones until they go to bed.

I don't think anyone is arguing that digital socialization is a bad thing, just that when you have people obsessively checking their Twitter feed every 2 seconds to see how many likes their regurgitated meme got when you have real people, real family, and real friends right there in front of you trying to connect with you and have conversation.
When you become obsessed with internet attention and it starts to impact your real life social interactions, then it's a problem. And it seems like more and more people are effectively becoming addicted to their phones and being connected over social media and are putting real life connections in the back seat, or shit more like in the trunk.
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Over 8 people are killed and 1,161 are injured daily in incidents reported as distraction-affected crashes in the United States.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2015, there were 3,477 people killed and an estimated additional 391,000 people injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.

At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010.

In 2015, the National Occupant Protection Use Survey reported that handheld cell phone use continued to be highest among 16-24 year old drivers.

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/dangers-texting-while-driving

Yeah a few people.
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Sure.

My phone is my computer so im on it a lot but I put it away when im with family. Wife will yell at me every once in a while to get me off of it, usually something like "put it in my butt" or something sexual and then I'll ask her what she said and she'll tell me I should have been paying attention.
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Yes
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Yes. But its needed enough in daily life that we can ignore that fact
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Did people complain when the newspaper came out?
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As a whole, yes, but I'm certainly not. Besides using it for music while I walk, I almost never use my phone for anything.
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An easy "Yes"

You can't talk to people face-to-face as well because of it. Especially because they have less reason to.

Also, you could be interrupting someones phone call and not even know it.
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