Walking around campus, it is hard not to see that most people either have a BlackBerry or an iPhone (dodgy glittery cases optional) clutched in their hands.
I find nothing wrong with this, given that I am a proud owner of an iPhone myself.
I admit I love my phone and I am that girl who is constantly glued to it, panic stricken within a minute if I can’t find it amongst the endless amount of crap in my handbag.
The beautiful shiny screen, the one click access to social networking sites, photos and unlimited information – what is there not to love about our ‘smart’ phones?
Well here is the thing girls, part of me thinks they aren’t making US very smart and are actually quite destructive.
Now I know that sounds extremely dramatic but hear me out…
Lectures I admit can be horrendously boring but why is it we sit there clicking away furiously on BlackBerry messenger and Whatsapp guilt free? We can’t seem to detach ourselves from the phone for two hours! When you think about it, it is pretty sad, especially considering university is usually a few hours a week set up so it seems silly to not be paying attention when we are paying the fees. Not to mention that a group of giggling girls browsing Facebook or the low murmur of clickety -clicks can be very distracting to other students who are paying attention.
(My new year’s resolution, as it usually is, is not be part of that group of girls.)
Remember the days when you would be waiting from a text from a boy, slightly anxious but excited because you didn’t know when he would text you.
Those days are gone. Who even texts anymore?
Now you can see what time he sent it, when he has read your reply and more importantly when he has read it and not replied. Cool.
There is also the pressure of what to say next much more quickly as it is ‘instant messaging’ and what happens when you have run out of things to say? It can get pretty awkward…
The problem with instant messaging is that there isn’t much thought process needed and usually people are messaging more than person at a time. So does a ‘catch up’ over messenger really mean a catch up or are we just trying to make sure we are checking in with all our friends rather than actually speaking to them? It may seem more convenient to message but it’s definitely not personal.
The worst is sitting in a lecture and getting the dreaded facebook notification of
“….has tagged you in 13 pictures.’
The panic of seeing those pictures before anyone else does (chances are slim) as well as the inability to de tag on your phone can be quite an ordeal.
Our phones have turned us slightly neurotic. They have us obsessed over social networking through sites and on apps like messenger. Like all things in life they are great in moderation but I feel we may have lost the balance.
Every hand, table, lap or pocket has a smart phone on it or in it and usually it is vibrating or ‘pinging.’ Instead of walking from the Parky steps to the union we are sending messages. Ironically, in the midst of us trying to keep up with everything like friendships, gossip and social networking we are becoming lazy and hardly being ‘social’ at all if it all going seems to be happening behind a screen or a keyboard.
I think we should go back to the days of calling the home phone, taking a good twenty minutes out of your day to catch up with a friend or boyfriend on the phone where you have to pay attention and have an actual conversation.
A phone call or a chat over coffee is far more satisfying than spreading yourself thin in many conversations on messenger. This is especially true when it comes to trying to write that 4000 word essay whilst tweeting, BBMing and checking what the boy you fancy is up to on facebook.
Let’s take a step back, breathe and put our phones in our bags for the most of 2012 ladies, as we have more to conquer in this world than having more than 50 contacts on messenger. So put more energy into typing essays rather than messaging, reading more books for your dissertation than checking the Daily Mail on your phone and turn those phones on silent for lectures because that’s why your at university!