Yesterday we went out to lunch with some friends and the first thing I did was run to the restroom. When I returned I found all 3 people sitting playing with their phones and not engaging in one another. One checking emails, another checking facebook and one checking ESPN.
I told everyone that I wished to be engaged instead of grabbing my own phone out of my purse. By no means do I not fall into the trap of grabbing my phone to look at something or playing a game during "dead" time. But I have been thinking about this a lot lately and it drives me nuts that people can't spend time together anymore because of the distractions their cell phones are.
My favorite is when you are with a bunch of people and they are playing words with friends with one another or texting each other. Again, I have done it but more so because I wanted to be engaged with the people in the room and knew that the only way I could was to hop on my cell to play them in a game. What has happened to our social skills? Have we truly lost the ability to engage in conversation or keep one another entertained?
I believe that I used to have really great social skills, but I think they have dwindled because of social media. It's so much easier to text or message someone on facebook than to have a real conversation with them. I find that when I am stuck talking to someone I just met I have nothing to say but if you put a screen between us I could probably talk for hours. Just last week I was eating lunch with a girl and she told me how she doesn't like talking on the phone and I thought me too. Which my parents probably wished was the case when I was in high school. I could have talked for hours on the phone, but about what? I can barely talk to someone for 20 minutes now without running out of things to talk about even though five minutes after we hang up I might text them or message them to talk more.
To top it all off Geoff Ashley was talking about distractions we have in our lives that keep us from our pursuit of a relationship with Christ. Which makes me really consider the social media thing as something I should get rid of not only to keep me from being distracted from God but also from allowing me to be so disengaged in my friendships.
But...facebook for example while it creates an avenue for me to be engaged with my friends and keep up with people I may not have otherwise also becomes a huge distraction from my life and my relationship with God. I often find myself checking facebook statuses endlessly and even glancing at it on my phone to see if someone has written something on my wall or sent me something. Why do I feel the need?
My goal is to leave my phone in my purse more and engage my friends and the people I am with more. And also to check my facebook less often.
I told everyone that I wished to be engaged instead of grabbing my own phone out of my purse. By no means do I not fall into the trap of grabbing my phone to look at something or playing a game during "dead" time. But I have been thinking about this a lot lately and it drives me nuts that people can't spend time together anymore because of the distractions their cell phones are.
My favorite is when you are with a bunch of people and they are playing words with friends with one another or texting each other. Again, I have done it but more so because I wanted to be engaged with the people in the room and knew that the only way I could was to hop on my cell to play them in a game. What has happened to our social skills? Have we truly lost the ability to engage in conversation or keep one another entertained?
I believe that I used to have really great social skills, but I think they have dwindled because of social media. It's so much easier to text or message someone on facebook than to have a real conversation with them. I find that when I am stuck talking to someone I just met I have nothing to say but if you put a screen between us I could probably talk for hours. Just last week I was eating lunch with a girl and she told me how she doesn't like talking on the phone and I thought me too. Which my parents probably wished was the case when I was in high school. I could have talked for hours on the phone, but about what? I can barely talk to someone for 20 minutes now without running out of things to talk about even though five minutes after we hang up I might text them or message them to talk more.
To top it all off Geoff Ashley was talking about distractions we have in our lives that keep us from our pursuit of a relationship with Christ. Which makes me really consider the social media thing as something I should get rid of not only to keep me from being distracted from God but also from allowing me to be so disengaged in my friendships.
But...facebook for example while it creates an avenue for me to be engaged with my friends and keep up with people I may not have otherwise also becomes a huge distraction from my life and my relationship with God. I often find myself checking facebook statuses endlessly and even glancing at it on my phone to see if someone has written something on my wall or sent me something. Why do I feel the need?
My goal is to leave my phone in my purse more and engage my friends and the people I am with more. And also to check my facebook less often.
