MAKE SURE SCREEN-TIME SUPPLEMENTS RELATIONSHIPS

As the weather gets nicer, there are more opportunities to enjoy nature and interact with people in the outdoors. For Oregonians especially, this also presents a great chance to whip out the smartphone to capture pictures of the beautiful, warm sun we don’t get to see as often as people in other places do. But when we’re attending events aimed at socializing with family, friends, and acquaintances alike, how often are we actually distracted by our phones?

Whether it’s inside or outside, if you are at an event of any kind, chances are people have their phone on them, if not already in their hand waiting to be checked at the next possible moment.

I am guilty of this myself, and a lot of similar habits are generally associated with younger phone users.

I was at a recent gathering where I noticed myself controlling the music, texting, and trying to take videos, all at the same time. Soon enough I felt like tossing my phone on the floor and leaving it there.

Smartphones can already accomplish a lot of different tasks, but the most common functions are the ones that are more likely to compete for our attention.

No matter what platform or app it is, messaging others is something cell phone users do for an endless amount of reasons. In a group setting however, there’s almost an unspoken courtesy to refrain from glossing over the present conversation to instead fix your gaze into your phone, since that gives an impression of disinterest. Ironically, there are those who use their phones to text friends who are in the same room, but that serves its own purpose.

Another primary use of smartphones, in particular, is jumping across apps to scroll through the feeds of social media. While some of us might argue we are capable of multitasking between viewing Facebook and listening to a conversation, inevitably the quality of one or both tasks will suffer, and most often it’s the latter since scrolling through any app typically doesn’t require much brainpower.

Ever since Snapchat came around there has been a debate over whether it’s really necessary to document so much of what goes on during everyday life. But if you think about social gatherings, they are usually events meant to celebrate something or to simply appreciate the present company. Capturing these moments with photos or videos isn’t necessarily an interference unless the process of sharing the content itself becomes too involved.

Many of us have a device that is almost always within our reach. Sometimes we want to show each other what is on our screens, and this is both acceptable and can be very entertaining.

The important thing is to remember that your phone is just an accessory to the time you spend with those you care about on those warm, sunny days.

Advocate Staff