Social or Antisocial Tech? (part 5)

So, researchers, sound the alarm if you want to, and try to raise awareness of the social dangers technology will cause us. It never hurts to be wary. I do understand that sometimes sitting at the dinner table with family and everyone is looking at their phones can be a bad sign, but all it takes is a little decency to put those phones down when somebody decides they want to say something. It is natural to have a lull in conversation even among close family, and I don't think there's anything wrong with picking up a smartphone to check messages or browse online if you're bored. But like anything else--it doesn't matter what you're doing—we just need to have the common sense to prioritize others over ourselves and to look up from those phones when they want to interact with us. None of us are going to be around forever, so we shouldn't miss the opportunities we have to talk with each other. As long as we're communicating—and this depends on how we manage it--technology might actually be a bridge, not an obstacle.