I will be the first to admit I'd rather e-mail than talk on the phone. Texting has entered my world, so now I can send text from anywhere at anytime. (Three years ago to as recently as a year ago I was refusing to jump on the text bandwagon. Oh how easily we cave when every one else is doing it.)
My Facebook friends list has been parred down since I last discussed it. The people on the list are ones that I have regular connections with or are related to me. I'm seriously contemplating deactivating it as I waste so much time there and the interactions are rarely meaningful. I want my life to be a blessing and I'm no longer convinced that can be done through technology.
I miss the days when friends got together and talked with no interruptions from cell phones. I have nothing against cell phones - they're dang handy - but when I am spending more time looking at it than the person talking to me there is a problem. As a result, DH and I set a house rule that when we are together in public, sharing a meal, or visiting with other people our phones are put away. They were becoming too much of a distraction and took away from quality time with people we say we care about. I'm hoping this is a trend that we can extend to the people we live life with. Cause I love their faces and don't want them hiding behind a 3"x5" screen.
What do you think of cell phone dependency?
1 comment:
You raise an excellent question, Nike. It's one that I think of when I sense I'm overdoing it -- such as texting or reading a Facebook post at a stop light. Initially I was a skeptic of social media but then I realized, like anything else, it's what you make of the experience. If you learn to filter out the trivial and the mundane (as you are doing by reducing your FB friends), and you become disciplined about when and where you will or won't use your smartphone, that will make it a lot more pleasurable.
There's no doubt that having all this information at our fingertips is extraordinarily helpful. We just have to remember to manage it rather than become slave to the technology. A new acquaintance of mine is a social media consultant and he specifically recommends putting the phone away for a few hours a day. Shut it off, take a walk, take a nap, whatever, in order to engage in life.
It's fun to interact online (as I do with you) but there's no substitute for hearing a person's laughter, seeing a smile or frown, etc.
Post a Comment