WHEN he realized his friends took more pictures of their food than talk to each other during lunch, Bien Desingaño could not help but frown.
The Chemical Engineering senior had been planning to have lunch with his friends for weeks but the beeps of notifications from his friends’ smartphones told him that it did not go as planned.
“I was gone for a while because of my training with my pep squad,” Desingaño explained. “But now that I’m here everyone seemed to be too focused with their phones.”
His situation was reminiscent of the photographs published by London-based photographer Babycakes Romero in 2014. His “Death of Conversation” captured a series of images showing people “plugged in” to their devices instead of talking with their company.
Romero’s series went viral and evoked various reactions on social networking sites. Some expressed guilt, some commented that smartphones are taking a toll on social etiquette, while some agreed that oral conversation might indeed be “dead.”
“Human beings are required to communicate with each other, [but] the manner in which we communicate changes,” psychiatrist Edilberto Gonzaga, M.D. said.
Age of multitasking
Data from global mobile sample and technology provider On Device Research showed that mobile penetration in the Philippines for the year 2014 reached up to 101 percent, parallel to the 28 million mobile phones sold in the country in 2013 versus a population of 97 million people.
Gonzaga said this dependence on technological innovations, particularly smartphones changed how people behave and interact nowadays.
“The activity we do now requires less physical effort than things we do before,” he said. “Before, the way we conduct speeches can influence people. Now, we rely on machines to talk for us.”
For some people, gadgets create “covers” where they can immerse themselves without minding the company of others, said Gonzaga.
“Our gadgets, become our reason—our escape—not to have a conversation,” he said.
To sociologist Clarence Batan, this is an unfolding phenomenon on human communication.
“It’s the birth of being multi-tasked,” Batan said. “[Though] the question [of] what may be considered as a quality conversation is a different realm entirely,” noting that the challenge for netizens is to be able to navigate their smartphones and be engaged in the real world at the same time.
In a report by the European Commission, a lot of people share positive and negative feedback towards technological innovation. Some believe that innovations are “truly designed to help people” while others think that machines will soon replace humans.
“[What is] most feared is lack of control,” the report told.
‘Death’ of conversation
According to Gonzaga, getting hooked on technology really has a significant effect on the “art of conversation,” especially in a generation which is seemingly dependent on smartphones.
“Confrontations, talking, using your vocal chords, using your body to communicate is now becoming a lost art because of [our dependence to technology],” he said.
Aside from the blurring lines of social etiquette in using phones while in the company of others, people are also losing their ability to narrate, Gonzaga said.
“The way we do it at present becomes impersonal compared from before,” he said. “It takes courage to talk face to face. The medium (smartphones) could create a buffer that could shield you from mistakes or if you’re showing signs of insecurities.”
However, Batan explained that personal conversations cannot be romanticized in such a way to consider them as “dying.” He added that to argue about the “death of conversation” would strike a lengthy discussion in the academe, especially whether or not a person’s dependence on technology can “kill” conversations or simply enhance them.
“One cannot really say what is happening, because it’s an issue of meaning. One can have different views of what is happening to the world, but yes, we [are starting to have] shifting [lifestyles],” Batan said.
Admittedly, Desingaño said that he himself cannot refrain from checking his phone every once in a while because important messages or announcements might arrive.
“I need this, too,” he said. “No one can survive without a smartphone nowadays.” Mia Rosienna P. Mallari
