I wanted to write this article because I’ve realized, more than ever, that I may actually be addicted to my phone. As much as I would love to prove my mom wrong, unfortunately, I think she may be right.
Oftentimes, I find myself mindlessly scrolling through TikTok, checking Instagram or opening my phone without even knowing why. Sometimes I’ll unlock my phone, look at it for a few seconds, and then realize I have absolutely no reason for having it open.
Somehow, my brain has decided that checking my phone is more important than whatever is happening around me. Perhaps to my brain, the dopamine hit from my screen is the most important thing because, unfortunately, even when I try to avoid increasing my screen time, I just can’t seem to keep myself away.
I find myself, even in the middle of an event, trip, or moment, wanting to take a photo. Now, I realize that’s a totally normal thing to do, and it is. I love photography, and I genuinely enjoy having photos to look back on. There is something special about being able to see a moment again years later and remember exactly where you were and who you were with. But I think the issue our generation has, myself included, is not that we want to take pictures for memories, safekeeping, or even just for fun. It’s that sometimes we take them with the people we’re going to share them with in mind.
Being in the moment seems almost impossible for Gen Z, and in some ways, it’s a problem we’ve created for ourselves. You go to concerts, and all you see is a sea of phones. Instead of watching an artist perform, people are recording entire songs. Instead of dancing, they’re trying to get the perfect video. Instead of experiencing something, we’re documenting it.
And I’m guilty of this too. Whether it’s at an event, on vacation, or just somewhere I happen to be, I find myself reaching for my phone constantly. Concerts and trips are probably the worst for me. I’ll tell myself I’m only going to take a few pictures, but suddenly I’ve taken 20 photos of the same thing from slightly different angles.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I went on a trip to London and Edinburgh. Of course, I took a ton of photos because it was my first time there. We went to all the big tourist sites, explored the cities and saw so many things that I wanted to remember. But I started noticing that I wasn’t always taking photos just for the sake of capturing memories. I was taking photos and videos under the guise of using them in the future to post on social media.
I would find myself thinking about what would look good on Instagram, what I could put on my story or which photos I might want to post later. Once I noticed that, I started trying to put my phone away at certain places and during certain moments. Sometimes I would snap a photo and then put my phone away instead of continuing to take pictures.
I wanted to actually experience where I was instead of constantly thinking about how I was going to document it. And honestly, it felt weird. I think we’ve become so used to documenting everything that not taking a photo almost feels like we’re losing the memory. But are we really? Sometimes I wonder if I’m actually going to remember a moment better because I took 30 photos of it, or if I would remember it better because I actually stood there and experienced it.
That really begs the question: why do we, as a society and as a generation, feel the need to constantly take photos and videos and share them with everyone? How much does that take away from the moment we are actually in? Of course, not everyone is like this.
And I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with taking photos, posting on social media, or wanting a nice picture. Social media can be fun. Sharing your life with friends can be fun. Looking back at old photos can be one of the best parts of having a phone. But I think there’s a difference between capturing a moment and feeling like you need to prove that the moment happened.
Even when we don’t post something, we can still find ourselves thinking about how it would look if we did. We want the perfect photo. We want the perfect vacation dump. We want the perfect concert video. Sometimes, it feels like everything has to be aesthetically pleasing before it can actually feel meaningful.
And while we’re busy doing all of this, we can miss out on what’s right in front of us. Maybe that’s the part I’m trying to change. Not deleting social media. Not throwing my phone away. Not suddenly becoming the person who never takes pictures. I just want to be able to go somewhere without immediately thinking about how I’m going to document it.
I want to go to a concert and dance without worrying about getting the perfect video. I want to travel somewhere and actually look around instead of seeing everything through my camera. I want to take a picture because I genuinely want to remember something, not because I’m already thinking about who I’m going to send it to.
Maybe my mom was right. Maybe I am on my phone too much.
But I think the bigger issue isn’t necessarily how much time we spend looking at our screens. It’s how often we choose our screens over what’s happening right in front of us. Maybe being present doesn’t mean never taking a picture. Maybe it just means remembering to put the phone down once you’ve taken it.