Tag: phones

Time to Un-Plug?

Empathy, intimacy, learning to read body language and understanding how to talk face-to-face are crucial parts of being human, but now that we spend hours in front of our tiny glowing smartphone screens, scientists fear we are losing our ability to communicate.  According to MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle, these hours devoted to Facebook, games and texts are hurting our capacity to be present with other humans.

When was the last time you chose a walk with a friend over a text or PM chat?

What are we teaching all the children who are playing on phones instead of interacting with those around them?

How Smartphones Are Killing Conversation

Look At Me Now

What does it look like to others when you use your cellphone?  Ever caught yourself watching TV and checking Facebook at the same time?  The photographer Eric Pickersgill explores our relationship with media in his photographic project, “Removed.”  Mr. Pickersgill recruited friends, family and strangers to pose as if they were holding their phones or electronic devices.  The results were both fascinating and shocking to many.  Seeing themselves so focused on media instead of the person next to them, Eric and his wife created rules such as leaving their phones in the car when they go out to dinner.  Both feel like they’ve gotten to know more about each other and grown closer in the last six months.  Take a look for yourself and listen to his Ted Talk, then see how you feel about the part electronics play in your life.

What do you look like when you look at your electronic device?