Smartphones are often used to escape from conversations
Smartphones are often used by people in cafés to escape or pause a conversation. The devices can increase the social distance between people. However, they also offer the opportunity to interact with each other when meeting friends. This is the result of a study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Although smartphones are often used to avoid conversation, many people in cafés pull out their smartphones to show content to others and thus create interaction.
"Blatantly looking the other way"
"Excessive smartphone consumption is often an attitude of avoidance. This is particularly debilitating in interpersonal relationships when it is experienced as a blatant way of looking away from one another. People often use it to avoid problems, but it doesn't solve them. Other studies have also shown that children's self-esteem in particular suffers when their parents' cell phones receive more attention than they do. It's always worth putting the smartphone away more often so as not to jeopardize our social development," explains author and digital detox expert Monika Schmiderer in an interview with the news portal Press release.
For the study, the researchers in Trondheim asked 52 visitors to cafés about their smartphone use. They also observed 108 meetings in cafés. They defined three reasons for using cell phones in this context. People often look at their smartphone to interrupt a conversation, for example to make a phone call or look at emails. This can be distracting for the other person, but it can also be seen as a short break.
Not just antisocial
Another reason for using a smartphone in a café is to avoid conversation. People often pull out their cell phone when they want to avoid a certain topic or remove themselves from the conversation completely. But the smartphone is not only antisocial. It can also be used to show friends the content on it and thus interact with it together.
Interlocutors may also have certain agreements about the use of smartphones. For example, in some cases both people take a photo of their coffee or food at the beginning, share it on social media and then put the device away. In this way, the smartphone can also play a role in social situations without distracting from the real conversation. (pte)
