Yes, nowadays phones are a part of our everyday lives, and it isn’t something we are going to change any time soon. We have learned to rely on them, when it comes to work, transport, social life, entertainment, anything you can really think of. Phones can be super useful, but like anything it comes with its problems, like how they are ruining real conversations. An increasing amount of people stare at their screens all day, and start to pay less attention to the world around them, especially people.
Firstly, they interrupt conversations all the time. I cannot remember the last time I talked to someone where neither one of us pulled out our phones at one point during the conversation. We often quickly want to check a notification (important or not) discretely while the other person is still talking. And even if it is a super fast glance, the other person will notice and it breaks the flow of conversation. This results in people stopping to listen carefully and conversations become shorter and less meaningful. Taking out your phone can give the impression that someone doesn’t care enough or that the phone is more interesting than the person talking, which can come off as very rude.
Secondly, this can harm relationships. People have conversations to express how they are feeling, if something is going on, or simply to share, as it is essential for building trust, connection, and understanding. As mentioned before, being distracted by the phone means you make less eye contact with the person and seem uninterested. Over time, friends or family members will start to feel ignored or unimportant, and frankly quite irritated.
Another reason of course is that phones are super addictive. Social media, like Tiktok, are designed to capture our attention and keep us hooked, so we spend more time on the app. Subconsciously, we tend to check social media apps and take a quick browse, simply because it has become a habit. Even me, whenever I become slightly bored and my phones already in my hand, i sometimes open up tiktok without realising it. For example, it’s become very common to walk into a cafe and a group of friends are together all scrolling on TikTok or even texting other people who aren’t there.
Of course they are not completely negative. They help friends communicate quickly and efficiently to meet eachother and stay connected to people who also live further away. That being said, at the meet up, they should not replace face-to-face interactions. Real conversations are much more meaningful and personal than online texting. A few messages on a screen can never replace a genuine conversation.
To conclude, phones are indeed quite useful, but they are also ruining daily interactions, especially between friends and family. They distract, weaken relationships, and are reducing the quality of a good conversation. If you want stronger relationships and deeper connections with the people around you, you have to learn how to put away your phone and restrain yourself from picking it up constantly. If we create more phone-free moments, we become more present and slowly we can bring back the value of a true conversation.
