Last week at our lunch break we couldn’t help but wonder that some people actually sit together in a coffee shop/restaurant staring at their phones. It immediately let us reminisce over a time where smartphones didn’t rule the world, and where creating something state of the art was done with Wordart, ha!

Johan and I are big suckers of the series „Friends“, and we can proudly say that we have both seen all episodes more than just once. (Any other ol’ Friends aficionados out there?)

I remember a time where the world’s biggest problem was when Rachel & Ross were on a break. Can we go back to this time, please?

 

We talked about the sad observation around us that some (mostly younger) people no longer talk to each other, goof off and have fun, tell their problems, have deep conversations, laugh together, cry together …. but sit next to each other staring into their phone missing out on (their own) life. It really has become a new cultural thing.

Dance like no one is watching. Because everyone is on their phone, so no one is watching.

 

I remember an awesome article from Mark Manson (BTW, love his book: „The subtle art of not giving a f*ck“) with the cool title „Smartphones are the new cigarettes“, and I absolutely agree with his take on social media and smartphones. Being in a restaurant with somebody and checking on your phone does not only remove them from the conversation, but it also distracting yourself. You are paying attention to their not paying attention, it’s like second-hand smoke. Not only does this person have a bad habit – actually it’s rude, but your attention is now suffering, because the person you’re with can’t keep his smartphone in their pants. Manson calls this „attention pollution“ when you’re with a person who gotta check their phone all the time.

We also talked about social media, how instagram has evolved over the last five years, the ever changing annoying algorythms, the highly curated feeds, time suckers like insta pods, the comparison game, the gaining followers game … but also the joy of missing out, and how to find a healthy way to use it mindfully. Seriously, I said, I miss the good ol’ time when I used Instagram only to run my photos through their rad hipstamatic filters or where I didn’t give any thought about randomly posting some non-curated dinner photos from our Happy Monday dinners.