The moment when a group of friends sitting together to have a meal, laughter and telling jokes – without cell phones on the table – seems to have become history. Since the craze for smartphones begins, people are more obsessed with their diverse functions than interaction between people. It is common to see that people are prone to check their phones every minute, whether they are travelling, attending lecture, or even walking on the street. While I admit that smartphones enable us to contact friends more easily, I do think that they pose more harms than goods to interpersonal connection and relationship.
Less attention is paid when people are in each other’s company. Although smartphones are groundbreaking devices for maintaining friendships and relationships by phone calls and texting, they are actually distancing people from face-to-face conversation. We are being too connected to a large number of friends that we turn out to be less connected to people closest to us. With a series of social networking applications on smartphones such as Whatsapp and Line, messages pop up almost every few minutes. When I am dining with my friends, almost 9 out of 10 of them will place their phones on the table and fiddle the screens whenever there are new messages. It hurts my feeling especially when she is my best friend – because the act gives an impression to me that she does not enjoy my company so much. To me, it is a sign of rudeness to text while chatting.
The convenience of mobile phones also intrudes my privacy. People rely more frequently on texting than conversation now. When there are group projects, my group mates now tend to discuss the contents through texting – without comprising when to have the online meeting before. Sometimes I would not immediately make a response as I have other works on hand, yet the worst thing comes when others can actually view my last online time in Whatsapp. They blamed me for not replying them as I had seen the message. I feel that my private lives are being exposed to everyone.
Suitable etiquette of restaurant photography is being ignored as the camera and internet functions are available all the time to smartphone users. Taking photos in restaurants can cause disturbance to the dishes being served, to the diners on other tables, to the restaurant staff and even to your friend sitting opposite to you. Normally I enjoy the meal together with the company, but if he/she just keeps snapping shots of every plate of food and is more interested in uploading them onto facebook to get more “likes”, I will feel irritated and puzzled. Making other friends jealous of the British style high tea with mouth-watering desserts placed on a silver cake stand can actually wait until on the way home. Although it is not necessary to ban all photographing activities in restaurants, diners are required to exercise restraint and show respect on the part of others.
Because of inadequate social codes, phone users also do not realize how disturbing their phones are in other people’s eyes. Given numerous functions such as social network, email, news source, map and so on, people just take out their phones whenever they want. While some notice that polite eye contacts are essential, others are ignorant of the fact that multitasking with the phone in front of people can mean disrespect.
The rise of smartphones has altered our behavior so much than any other electronic gadgets do. Although the invention contains many advantages, its drawbacks are also significant, including declined concentration in face-to-face conversations, intrusion of personal time and negligence of manners in public places. Before your relationship with friends becomes ruined and irreversible, it is time for us to focus more on the people around us rather than texting those who are far away – as we can do it anytime alone.
Jennifer 