Should we leave our guns at the door? What? Are we back in the Wild West? No, your gun is just a metaphor for your smart phone. Why? Apparently we are unable to have a normal and genuine conversation with each other anymore. Nowadays social gatherings with family and friends are being dominated by social devices (iPads and smart phones). Children are rather online instead of playing and having fun with each other. At the dinner table we check our social networks instead of having a conversation. We rather send congratulations messages or happy birthday wishes via Whatsapp instead of just calling the birthday boy or girl.
Have you ever heard of the word phubbing? I didn’t. According to a study at the Baylor University (James Roberts, Ph.D.) phubbing can even undermine our relationship with our romantic partner! Phubbing is to ignore a person or one’s surrounding in favour of your mobile phone. Do you think phubbing is rude or disrespectful? Apparently when you ignore your partner in favour of your mobile phone it leads to a lower level of relationship satisfaction. According to Roberts “These lower level of relationship satisfaction, in turn, lead to lower level of life satisfaction and, ultimately, higher level of depression.” Surprised? Well I am. Do you recognize any of the above examples? Are we disconnected? Do we rather interact with our smart phones than with real people? What do you think? Please do share your opinion?
At the start of the millennium one would have intuitively expected that the transformation from text messaging (pager) to smart phones would have led to an increase in voice communication. Clearly the relationship is inverse! But is social media ruining human interactions? I disagree. It is just another way to connect with our friends and relatives regardless of how far away they are living. Remember social media opens a door to the rest of the world. We are able to connect to people we would not have been able to meet otherwise! We should therefore embrace new technology especially if it enriches our lives. As long as we understand we only share our happy moments on social media (please read our previous blog: The grass is always greener on the other side?)
How can we improve the interaction amongst each other? The first step toward change is awareness the second step is taking action. You could agree with your partner to put the telephone out of sight when at home. Give your partner the attention she or he deserves. As a parent you could ask children to leave their guns in a box when invited to play. As a result they will have to play together. Another idea is to establish a smart phone free-zone in for instance the pub. And who-ever uses his phone first will have to pay the bill (a tip I received from a trainee). I guess a very effective way of socializing! It emphasizes that even the young generation understand the value of socializing i.e. having genuine contact and interest in each other without being disregarded for a mobile device! I can only encourage and support these kinds of practices. Do you have any tips and ideas? Please do share them with our readers.
Last but not least be the change that you wish to see in the world (Mahatma Gandhi).
Off line is the new LUXURY don’t you agree?