6 Ways How Smartphones Are Affecting Our Conversations

For one of my assignments this semester, we were asked to conduct participant observations on any selected field site. Being avid cafe-hoppers, it was almost natural for me and my partner (ms cheesetofu!) to choose a cafe for our field site. (And obviously, to sip on coffee and make merry with waffles along the way.) One of the more popular cafes that we've both never gone before was Wimbly Lu Chocolates - so onto the land of waffles and chocolate we go!

Yeah I know, bad fringe from months ago. Sigh.

The title of the post doesn't leave much room for imagination on what this post is about... smartphones are a huge distraction to our conversations very much. What I didn't expect was the extent it was affecting other people, and how these electronic devices are extremely central to many of the conversations. I have to apologize for eavesdropping on a lot of conversations around me, but this was an assignment requirement (not being intrusive, but to understand what was going on) - and it's nothing personal! Just... well, finding out more about how people interact with one another. Here is also a shoutout for those who have always wondered what Sociology majors do... yeah, we sniff around surreptitiously while people mill about their usual businesses. We eliminated the possibility of confirmation bias (ie. looking for evidence to fit what we think we might see) as we entered the scene with an open mind about what we can find. That's really the whole point of doing research anyway. 

So here are six ways how smartphones (or similar electronic devices) can be very disruptive:

Having normal conversations while scrolling through their timelines.

1. Diffusing awkward situations, killing romance

This further proves how dating and romance has obviously reached an all-time new low. Out of so many couples that we've observed, nearly four in five younger couples turned to their smartphones whenever a slightly protracted silence pops up, whenever someone finishes their meal faster and doesn't want the responsibility of coming up with the next conversation topic. Isn't that the whole point of dating to look into each other's eyes and talk?

Photo credits: businessinsider.com

2. Discussing about apps

I try not to put value judgment on what I see, but it gets difficult sometimes. The first point goes into my own unacceptable zone, but this second point goes into a positive direction. Conversations sometimes revolve around the types of photo-taking apps or new apps they have recently downloaded and found useful. Such active sharing and conversation topics are very relevant because our smartphones are practically appendages of our body right now.

Someone's Instagram.

3. Obsessing over Instagram

I feel like I could blog an entire post about this itself, because the world gets so ridiculous these days over Instagram... *wait for it* "I can't even..."I have to admit, I am ridiculous over Instagram and phototaking sometimes... but I am always amazed by the levels of excitement people can have over it. The enthusiasm over it in a cafe seems to multiply by ten folds. There were girls sashaying in, taking photos at every angle of the cafe, changing their hairstyles, poses, permutations of food and humans, permutations of angles and poses, seating arrangements... you get me. Not an exaggeration at all.

This was a food tasting session, hence the extra fervor over photo-taking.

4. Documenting every cafe moment

I am supposed to not judge... but okay, I do this too. High-five, oops. However, sometimes people get so preoccupied with doing this, they don't interact with one another at all. Although they are at the same table, they don't speak to each other about anything other than assessing their photo-taking results, it was almost as if they don't know each other.

Non-stop Instagramming, limited conversations.

5. Because hands don't know where to go now

Another disturbing sight is how conversations now happen over two smartphones screens between two people engaging one another. We might be in an era of multi-tasking, but how does connection happens like that? I'm not sure how they could actually be scrolling through their Twitter/Instagram/Facebook timelines and asking about how each other's week went... and not feel offended. They were totally cool with that. That's just one couple though, and perhaps that's how they roll.

Photo credits: imenucards.com

6. Phones within the field of vision

Even if they don't hold their phones in their hands, they've got to have it somewhere within reach for some kind of security. Some people are expecting important calls, messages... or their job requires them to be accessible 24/7. But it does gets distracting when people starts checking their phones mid-conversation whenever a flashing notification comes up.