Who are you talking to all the time?

Written by Danielle Bradley, Op-Ed Editor

“Click, Click, Click, Click, Click”, the darling sound of thumbs tapping away on cell phone keys: a noise that is heard virtually every moment of everyday. As teenagers, we literally live on our cell phones. Calls, texting, bbming, updating Facebook, Twittering, or whatever other capabilities cell phones have, they all completely consume the lives of adolescents.

When you see someone constantly using their phone it’s tough not to wonder “who are you talking to all the time?” And better yet, who actually cares if you’re sitting on the back porch drinking apple juice, or any other nuisance task that no one really “likes”. The fact that lives are lived on a two by four inch screen is simply pathetic. And obsessive cell phone users are more irksome than poison ivy.

At a concert, while most are swaying to the sweet sounds of a rock melody and actually seeing the band, there’s always the one who chooses not to look at the musicians they paid to see, but rather at the distraction in their palm; where they inform people about the awesome concert that in reality, they’re not even watching. The same goes for those who attempt to text while having a conversation with a real human being, and not just a hunk of plastic. It’s simply rude to the person who is being spoken to face-to-face.

Cell phones make it impossible to go to the movies without hearing a strange country/techno ringtone, seeing herds of backlights that virtually brighten the entire theatre, and, of course, the “click, click, clicking” soundtrack of “loling” and stalking Facebook.

New technology is great, but the obsessive usage could be done without. Society needs to stop speaking via plastic, and start having real conversations that involve depth and more importantly, a voice.

1. Elena Sánchez Says:
   October 9th, 2009 at 8:30 am

   Daniela, you nailed this!!! Excelente artículo!! Yes, definitely the obssessive usage of ANY device is not healthy. Technology doesn’t tell you how to manage it. It’s you, because you are the HUMAN who can -hopefully- exercise self control.
   As with everything in life, BALANCE is the key word. Another supplementary vocabulary words that I may add to this list are: Good manners, courtesy, social interaction and last but not least . . . parental control!!

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