Current Events > Was socialization better before smartphones?

(+) Yeah! (+)

On one hand, it has been amazing interacting with people around the world through apps like Instagram, but it seems like most people their faces buried in their smartphones these days.
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i still don't understand how instant messenger almost completely died out. it was free and you could talk on the computer just like you could on a phone. i've never liked phones, especially not with how ridiculously costly they are these days (for being what they are).

It has increased social anxiety.

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Nope. It makes it even easier to socialise with my cefriends
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Wewillrocku posted...

i still don't understand how instant messenger almost completely died out. it was free and you could talk on the computer just like you could on a phone. i've never liked phones, especially not with how ridiculously costly they are these days (for being what they are).

it's kind of interesting, I'd say that texting replaced IMs and then messenger replaced a lot of texting

I think it's a sign that I'm getting old, but I think about the impact smart phones and specifically always being online has had on society quite a bit lately. I don't think it's bad, though, it's more just hard to really wrap your head around how different it is. Like even the ability to instantly look something up is a huge game changer compared to how things were when we were younger.


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Balrog0 posted...

Wewillrocku posted...

i still don't understand how instant messenger almost completely died out. it was free and you could talk on the computer just like you could on a phone. i've never liked phones, especially not with how ridiculously costly they are these days (for being what they are).

it's kind of interesting, I'd say that texting replaced IMs and then messenger replaced a lot of texting

I think it's a sign that I'm getting old, but I think about the impact smart phones and specifically always being online has had on society quite a bit lately. I don't think it's bad, though, it's more just hard to really wrap your head around how different it is. Like even the ability to instantly look something up is a huge game changer compared to how things were when we were younger.

Indeed, you can find in-depth information on a topic or person on Wikipedia that would have taken days or weeks back in the 90s.
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Yes it was.

There we gaps when you didn't see someone. So when you saw them you got to catch up.

Like is school. You would have a weekend, when you didn't see most people.
Then on Monday you got to talk about what you did all weekend.
Now everyone knows what you did, and what you ate.

Also, it gave people more true alone time. And that might be the greatest difference.

I can tall you one thing, people as horrible as they always have been, were better at handling their shit, before the smartphone.
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No.

End topic.

Obviously.

Eh, depends how you use them. I'd argue I have much more interaction with old school and college friends that live in different places through things like Facebook and Instagram than I ever would without social media.

It's nice to keep in touch even if it's via a fairly superficial format.

Tequilawhatitdo posted...

It has increased social anxiety.

Why is that tho?
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Tequilawhatitdo posted...

It has increased social anxiety.

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Qe had an ice cream social at work today, and (changing the names) Jerry was talking to Kate. I didn't pay that much attention, but one of the guys I was talking with suddenly asks "So... Is Kate on the phone or not?"

I look over, and she totally has her phone up to her ear while Jerry is just talking away. He has to know she's holding it there, but he won't leaver her alone.

Looking closer, I notice she doesn't even have it turned the right way. The screen is facing away from her head and everything.

It was the funniest thing I've seen in months.
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I wouldn't say so.
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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Why is that tho?

Younger people really cannot hold a conversation in person nor be in a place for more than a few minutes without looking at their phone. Phones have become a crutch.

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yeah back in the good old days people had real conversations
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This is going to sound odd, but I've seen Dogs, and to a lesser extent Cats, being annoyed by people on their phones. They are trying to tell us something, we should listen.
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SiO4 posted...

This is going to sound odd, but I've seen Dogs, and to a lesser extent Cats, being annoyed by people on their phones. They are trying to tell us something, we should listen.

They aren't annoyed, generally. Especially with cats. Both are very social, and what seems like annoyance is usually them trying to be involved with what their people are doing.

Tequilawhatitdo posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Why is that tho?

Younger people really cannot hold a conversation in person nor be in a place for more than a few minutes without looking at their phone. Phones have become a crutch.

That's an insane exaggeration
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People have developed this weird idea that before smartphones came out you would just sit around talking to everyone. It's bizarre. No one talked to randoms on the bus back then either, or in waiting rooms, anywhere else. They either sat there quietly or busied themselves with something else like a book, just like they do today with smartphones.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Tequilawhatitdo posted...

It has increased social anxiety.

Why is that tho?

It's helped my anxiety if anything. Who knows how isolated and depressed I would have become if I solely had to depend on face to face interaction in fostering conversation and friendship.
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People could hold a convo better now days everyone is texting and they cant talk or socialize properly face to face.

Growing up we didnt have smart phones until my senior year in high school so it was alot different. AOL and MSN was the closest thing to online socializing.
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What does holding a conversation even really mean here? How long should conversations last and how has the Internet changed them? Who should we converse with? How many people did someone in the good old days speak to and/or befriend?

People paint this picture of a past where the world was one big happy unit.
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Lol I didn't get my first cell until after highschool, and it was one of those razer phones that was popular at the time. When did smart phones get ubiquitous?

Even in my second year of college I remember using that one service... Can't remember the name... But it was kind of like askjeebes but there were actual people responding to your questions. Iirc we used that when we got lost after a party one time because no gps


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CloneTheHero posted...

it was the same shit. geezer generations like to pretend like we're shut ins who cant hold convos but its a lie. before smartphones people just stared at newspapers instead of screens they were just as standoffish as we are.

But Andy knew everyone in Mayberry!

Wait, that wasn't real life?
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Balrog0 posted...

Lol I didn't get my first cell until after highschool, and it was one of those razer phones that was popular at the time. When did smart phones get ubiquitous?

Even in my second year of college I remember using that one service... Can't remember the name... But it was kind of like askjeebes but there were actual people responding to your questions. Iirc we used that when we got lost after a party one time because no gps

I didn't get a smartphone until 2012, but I noticed that most people at work or people I interacted with had one by that point. In NYC at least.
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I remember having dates where I said see you Friday at 5pm and didn't speak to her for 5 whole days until it was date night

Shit was lit
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Unsugarized_Foo posted...

I remember having dates where I said see you Friday at 5pm and didn't speak to her for 5 whole days until it was date night

Shit was lit

Haha, nice.
But ya, I know what you mean.
Time away, is healthy sometimes.
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emblem boy posted...

Tequilawhatitdo posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Why is that tho?

Younger people really cannot hold a conversation in person nor be in a place for more than a few minutes without looking at their phone. Phones have become a crutch.

That's an insane exaggeration

Not to mention, that's not what social anxiety is.
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Lost_All_Senses posted...

emblem boy posted...

Tequilawhatitdo posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Why is that tho?

Younger people really cannot hold a conversation in person nor be in a place for more than a few minutes without looking at their phone. Phones have become a crutch.

That's an insane exaggeration

Not to mention, that's not what social anxiety is.

No, in many cases it's true. I've seen plenty of 20 somethings with a real basic inability, or for that matter lack of confidence, to deal with people face to face.
I've known people who freak the fuck out at the idea of calling up a Pizza order. And that does not even face to face.
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Wewillrocku posted...

i still don't understand how instant messenger almost completely died out. it was free and you could talk on the computer just like you could on a phone. i've never liked phones, especially not with how ridiculously costly they are these days (for being what they are).

IM services stopped being profitable to maintain, whereas the controlled environment of smartphones is guaranteed money. Whenever you download a free app for any kind of social media, and oftentimes not even concerning social media, you're essentially using your personal info to pay for it.

IRC's still around, but nobody wants to use it for some reason. My guess is ignorance.
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SiO4 posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

emblem boy posted...

Tequilawhatitdo posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Why is that tho?

Younger people really cannot hold a conversation in person nor be in a place for more than a few minutes without looking at their phone. Phones have become a crutch.

That's an insane exaggeration

Not to mention, that's not what social anxiety is.

No, in many cases it's true. I've seen plenty of 20 somethings with a real basic inability, or for that matter lack of confidence, to deal with people face to face.
I've known people who freak the fuck out at the idea of calling up a Pizza order. And that does not even face to face.

This was me even before I had a cell. I got better, but yeah, it's a real thing. I once jumped over and hid behind a couch because a girl scout rang the doorbell.
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SiO4 posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

emblem boy posted...

Tequilawhatitdo posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Why is that tho?

Younger people really cannot hold a conversation in person nor be in a place for more than a few minutes without looking at their phone. Phones have become a crutch.

That's an insane exaggeration

Not to mention, that's not what social anxiety is.

No, in many cases it's true. I've seen plenty of 20 somethings with a real basic inability, or for that matter lack of confidence, to deal with people face to face.
I've known people who freak the fuck out at the idea of calling up a Pizza order. And that does not even face to face.

This doesn't imply it's social anxiety tho. That's like saying everyone who has a beer is an alcoholic. It's being dramatic to a point it's silly. That analogy isnt that good but it serves it's purpose and Im not thinking to hard on this
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Smartphones causing social anxiety might have been too dramatic but along with social media, the dependance on the phone itself, etc. I truly believe, and some studies show, that smartphones can cause anxiety. Now, would they have had anxiety in a different generation? Possibly. But as the other poster mentioned, young adults are very preoccupied in their phones in even the most social of settings which is something that we haven't seen before. Usually the person who wasn't interested in the party that was around them was seen as the outcast. Now, most young adults are deep in their phone even when they are at a bar with their friends.

Social anxiety might have been the wrong term, though.

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I have definitely noticed that many people can't get through a conversation without checking their phone
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Vol2tex posted...

I have definitely noticed that many people can't get through a conversation without checking their phone

Huge pet peeve right up there with being interrupted.
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Yes.
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Probably not. Where's that one picture from like the 50s where there's a crowd of people jam packed in a bus and almost every one is reading the newspaper.

I'm not talking to someone if I don't have to.
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SiO4 posted...

Vol2tex posted...

I have definitely noticed that many people can't get through a conversation without checking their phone

Huge pet peeve right up there with being interrupted.

It also ruins the flow of conversation when someone is talking, then stops to show you a long Youtube video of something they're talking about.
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