--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- date: Sat 23 Dec 2023 06:33:40 PM PST --
-- subj: reflections not visible smartphone --
-- auth: bbsing --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
People here (gopher) are more likely to understand some aspect seen in the
behavior of obsessive smartphone and social media usage. I don't really
know what value the time I spent writing or thinking about what I see and
experience. I know I'm not alone with my observations though. I only hope
the people using such systems find the presence of others more interesting
and valuable than the glitz and glamour they are searching for on their
smartphones.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Summary: //
//
While people are in the company of each other, //
they are ignoring the individual[s] they are with, //
instead search for others online with their smart //
phones. It a sad state of rejection, the scrolling //
on the smart phone is the rejection refection they //
can't see, and online in some sense feel. //
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Story:
========================================================================
______________________________________________________________________
/\ \
\_| I was sitting in the waiting room before an appointment. In the |
| room was a woman in her thirties. After a short moment she put |
| her phone to her ear and said, just come in through this door. |
| A moment later a man appeared at the door and she let him in. |
| Normally you must get rung in to gain access to the internal |
| area of the building. The woman commented on his clothes, and |
| he replied saying he was in his comfy clothes. His clothes |
| seemed fine to me, but they were similar to modern sweat gear, |
| with nice running shows that were a shade of brown. |
| |
| As I sat, I thought about how long it would be before I was |
| called, and during that time I glanced at the couple sitting |
| across from me. They did not notice my glances. They were |
| speaking to each other, all the while not looking at each |
| other. It appeared much of their attention was at their |
| smartphone. Its a scene we are all becoming very familiar with. |
| People who appear to be together in the same space or |
| accompanying each other, not really paying or giving attention |
| to the person they accompanied. Its such a strange thing. Why |
| is it strange to me? |
| |
| Today is strange how people are so concerned with those that |
| are not in their presence. |
| |
| Lets flash back around the time of AOL (American Online). AOL |
| got really big and many people in their late 30's had |
| experience with AOL, specifically the chartroom feature. |
| People would contact to AOL and sit in chat rooms and talk to |
| other people. Later that generation of computer users would go |
| on to MySpace, then to Facebook. The common feature is |
| connecting with people. They wanted some form of connection |
| with others, building their digital profiles and friends list |
| to feel connected with others. As time went out Facebook fell |
| out of favor for snapchat, and Instagram as younger smartphone |
| users entered with digital online space, twitter, and probably |
| a host of other friend/people connection platforms grew and |
| died, into today. |
| |
| The people are finding others online and sometimes making real |
| world physical connections, but while with or around physical |
| people, they are all still sitting/standing/walking with their |
| heads in the phone looking for someone to connect with all the |
| while forgetting there are people right next to them. Its such |
| an odd phenomenon. |
| |
| The interesting thing to me is how normalized it is and |
| accepted it is, and people enamored with online versions of |
| others and them selves, while rejecting those next to them. |
| The rejection isn't a stated rejection but it is a rejection, |
| and as one person pulls out their phone in the presence of |
| another, the other person feeling alone also responds with a |
| reflection of the behavior the individual is searching to |
| escape, in itself is internet in anything or anyone other than |
| the individual sitting next to them. |
| |
| My personal experience: one of our younger friends always wants |
| to attend events with us, and so an invite goes out, and |
| usually there is six of us hanging out, the person sits and |
| scrolls their phone most of the time, and sometimes as |
| someone is talking to them, they stop paying attention and look |
| at their phone and scroll. Such compulsive behavior. I've found |
| a majority of these people have some level of depression. |
| |
| _________________________________________________________________|_
\_/___________________________________________________________________/
