How Smartphones Can Ruin Your Social Life

Article #2, Published February 20, 2017 by Eli Wasson

A quote for the read:

"All relationships have one law: Never make the one you love feel alone, especially when you're there."
— Unknown

Before we begin, this post will in many ways contradict itself, so be prepared and opinions are appreciated.

Smartphones are becoming a bigger and bigger problem as the world goes through a major technological revolution that will be in the history books for ever. And it's not just smartphones either, it can be a tablet, laptop, or even a virtual reality headset. And whenever we are asked about what we do on our phones all the time, we tend to think that we are just connecting to millions of new and existing friends through social media (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, etc.). While this is true, in reality we are not connecting with the people closest to us. Real, physical relationships are formed when a person greets another with a handshake and a "Hello." From then on they start talking about life and before you know it, a new friendship is made. Nowadays friendships are made by either following or 'friending' someone.

To take an example from real life experiences, just the other day this happened to me - which gave me the inspiration to write this. As I was sitting in class while the teacher was lecturing, I was staring at this girl, whom I have a crush on, trying to make some eye contact with her. She would occasionally look up at the teacher but during the time when she wasn't, she looked right back down at her phone. This was obviously very disappointing, especially for a guy my age trying to make his first love connection. Now - some of you might say, 'well if she really liked you, she wouldn't be on her phone all the time.' Well to be honest you're probably right.

Either way if you step back and take a look society, you may notice that friends hang out but they're still all on their phones doing something else instead of actually talking to the people right next to them. Not just relationships but also ideas are created when two or more people exchange and share thoughts. Think about back when all of the revolutionary inventions were created, such as the first Apple computer. This invention, which eventually led to the creation of Apple Inc., was sparked by the sharing of thoughts and ideas between two boys. They didn't have any kind of phone to bury their faces in back then. They spent genuine face-to-face social time together and ended up created something extraordinary.

I do have to admit after writing all of this, I too am guilty of sometimes getting too involved with my tech. When I'm in school, I have my phone with me in my bag in case I need to call someone but I never pull it out to use it. After I get home, I try to only check it once and then again right before I go to bed. Then I check it once in the morning before I head back off to school. I'm more of a computer guy though. I can never really understand how one person can spend an entire afternoon surfing their phone but I do a lot on my computer, such as typing documents or watching an episode of The Office. Other than that, I'm pretty much free and spend a lot of time outside doing physical activities.

So, when you're done reading this, think about how much time you spend on your phone - or any piece of technology for that matter. Maybe it's time you put it down and away and spend some more time conversing with loved ones. Who knows, maybe you'll even make a new friend. Find someone sitting on a bench in the park, walk up to them, and ask if you could sit next to them. Try asking how their day is going. You'll find it relieving and much happier than liking a friend's post on Facebook.

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I'm a 16-year-old sophomore in high school. I've figured out that Steemit is a great way to express my feelings about certain topics and get paid for it! I like to start all my articles with a quote to get the reader to understand the 'feeling' of the article before they start reading it.

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