Cell Phone, Internet. Minor Addiction or Epidemic?

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Seems like everywhere you go, people almost constantly have a video screen in front of their face.

Teens & early 20-somethings especially seem to be almost controlled by their screens & "constant checking".

Is this trivial, a low-level addiction, or a full-blown epidemic no one is talking about?
 
My wife and her friend had the kids at a playground last week and noticed that they were the only two moms out of 7 that weren't looking at a screen...

Now teenagers and early 20's folks do have a much more active and fluid social life than most of us old timers so it makes sense they use whatever tech is available, just like we did with email. The texting and driving stuff needs to stop though, it kills twice as many people as drunk driving now.
 
People like data, to know what is going on. If its their sphere of people, even more so. But it is rude to have your face in a phone versus your task at the time.
 
Full-blown epidemic! The smart phone, facebook, twitter and the rest of it has just made the dumb even dumber and more socially inept.
 
My wife complains that I'm on my phone too much (usually reading BITOG or other forums) while she's watching the Kardashians and Teen Mom.
 
It is bad- was at a restaurant- and saw many tables with whole families engaged in their devices and no one talking to each other. We were one of the few families talking and laughing.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Full-blown epidemic! The smart phone, facebook, twitter and the rest of it has just made the dumb even dumber and more socially inept.



I agree Trav.

With few exceptions, Kids are not at Parks anymore.

They do not want to experience "real life" anymore; just stay in this "immobilized, vegetative state"!!

Guess how long their life expectancy is going to be??
 
Great topic!

A pet peeve of mine is this with my wife. She freaks out when her cell phone is missing for more than 3 seconds, spends more time texting a simple message to her mother than actually talking with her, then 10 minutes later she ends up calling her for 30 minutes anyway. I'm just trying to get to bed when the "tweeting whistle" repeatedly goes off at 11pm to find out what her 51 year old girlfriend should do about her 3rd husband acting up. Then I get tired waking up at 5:30am to get ready for work.

I'm all for the internet and cell phones, but it has become an obsession with many people I know. I'm tech-wise in between my dad (no tech) and my adult kids (newest tech) and I actually like it like that way. This site saved me probably thousands of dollars on car repairs, but I know when to turn it off too. I have a Trac phone which is nice, but I use it sparingly and it works great for me. I think the internet allows people instant gratification and people can end up revealing more to a stranger online than they would ever think to do in real life. I don't Facebook, but almost everyone I know that does, seems to think of that more highly than if they have food in the house or if the bills are paid.

A friend of mine who is 1 year younger than me (46), does not work and gets money from his mother so he can surf the web, tweet all day, and "live" in the cyber world. Asking to get the lawn mowed only takes a couple days to schedule in....

If you ask me, it is an epidemic. The computer is one of the best and WORST things to come out of technology. Trying to stay out of religion here, but I have often wondered if the computer could be the anti....? (I don't even want to say it or write it).
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Ironic place to discuss this.


As I surf BITOG on my cell phone and reply to this post...lol

I will say YES and NO. I work for a telecom, so in part Im attached to my devices for work related reasons..checking emails etc. I tend to look at my own phone for texts and BITOG browsing. However I strongly believe the young ones should be outside playing and not in front of a screen all day. Not only will it affect life expectancy but im betting eyesight too...i guess thats where parenting comes into play. When I was young, I was limited to how much TV and video games I played and Im glad I was. Its part of the changing ways of our society...Parents need to send a better example for their children if they dont talk around a dinner table or cant go anywhere without being attached to a screen.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Ironic place to discuss this.


LOL....99.9% of the general public would consider it absolutely ridiculous that we take time out of our day to talk about oil on an internet forum.
 
Saw a thing making the rounds about how a restaurant owner was trying to improve service. He found some tapes from 2004 video surveillance and timed out how long people waited for a server, how long till food, if they sent back for re-heating, etc.

Everything's worse now b/c of cell phones. Food gets cold in front of people glued to their screens.

I saw it on, uh, facebook.
blush.gif


That said it's easier to "pull" aggregate content from like-minded people on my whim-- 15 minutes here and there when I get time. I don't get called on the phone by gabbers who interrupt my business. There's a certain efficiency there.

BTW I can read faster than I can listen, so I'm smarterer for that.
 
I keep thinking........

If Psychologists 30 years ago saw 100 people "constantly checking/refreshing" their Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, etc., they would classify all 100 as in Full Mental Addiction, JUST like Drugs or Alcohol!!

Then, get them in treatment RIGHT AWAY!

Know what I mean??
 
The fear of not being socially connected is strong.

Prior generations would join clubs, run down to neighborhood bar, visit family down the street.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Wow! You guys sound like a bunch of old fuddy duddies!


Not really.......

- Notice their necks are bent down. They'll have Back & Neck problems coming...

- Notice when you're in this vegetative state you're breathing is shallow. Heart & Lung problems are coming.

- Inattentiveness: That says A LOT there.

Fuddy Duddities, huh?

It's a WARNING that no one is listening to... because they're too addicted!!
 
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