Hang up the phone, see the world

It is impossible to go out in public without seeing at least one person whose nose is but inches away from a cell phone.

And we have all heard it a thousand times: “The millennials are engrossed by technology and it is going to ruin them.”

However, the members of Generation X and beyond continue to absorb themselves with the latest gossip on Facebook, the newest joke on Twitter, and the hilarious video they just posted to their Snapchat ‘my story’.

No matter what your personal opinion may be, our society is addicted to technology. The first response to a lost cell phone is a sense of panic. We feel helpless and lost without having the option to reach out for help, or the ability to scroll through Facebook when we get bored.

Social media and technology have such a grasp on society today because they provide an instant gratification that is unlike any other. We can be sitting alone at home and post something on Twitter. Within seconds, this post may already have a like or a retweet. If we put a picture on Instagram it may only take a few minutes for five or 10 people to double tap it and give it a heart.

These “likes” or “favorites” give us a sense of gratification that we are accepted and that the people around us on social media actually care about our lives. Not only that, but we can paint ourselves as whatever we want to be on social media.

A person can be extremely sad, but post a happy picture on the web to prove to the online world that they are happy with his or her life. There is no personal interaction. Nobody to notice an emptiness in the voice of somebody that could really need to talk.

Society has become driven by the things that will get us the most likes and favorites on the web. But what happens when we unplug?

We see people around us who haven’t. We go to the coffee shop and see the guy sitting at the table next to us looking at his or her phone and the first instinct is to reach for our own. We wait in line for lunch and want something to do besides stare awkwardly at the people around us, so we want to bury our face in our phone.

It has gone so far that we will sit at a table full of friends and all stare at our phones. Being together, but not interacting. Our phones, tablets and computers are always there to save us from having to interact with the living, breathing people around us.

With all of this happening around us it is almost impossible to get away from the technology addiction, but here is a charge for everyone: Put your phone down and see what you can notice. Just try it for a day. Maybe make a pact with your friends and promise to all spend time with each other without using cell phones.

Walk down the sidewalk and smile at every person you see instead of avoiding eye contact by staring at a screen and the response will be positive. The only thing stopping us from interacting with each other is the notion that we have created ourselves that it is too terrifying to have a conversation with a stranger.

You will be amazed by the people you can meet and the things you can observe when a phone screen isn’t the first thing in reach.