iExamen 1

Technology has always been an evolving aspect to our life and recently, technological advances have made human interactions less common. This past weekend, I participated in a technological break where for 1 hour; I was electronic free and only interacted with the people that were in the room with me. This experience opened my eyes to how much of a blocker phones are when it comes to face-to-face interactions. This was not the first time I have participated in this type of activity, yet every time I do a phone break, I am shocked at how often other people use their phones. It is possible that if these phone breaks are used more often, People will come closer together and enjoy more meaningful experiences.

When communicating with other students at Loyola, my most used method of communication would be to either text my friend, or use Facetime to video chat with my friend. These methods of communication are used when I want to see where my friends are, where they are going, or if they want to come over to hangout. Now that I am getting older, I have moved away from using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. My friends and I hangout very often and it is often for multiple hours everyday yet when we do hangout, most people have their phones out the whole time while we hangout. If people are not on their phones, it is often because they are glued to the TV.

 Participating in this self reflective event made me realize how nice it is to sit and enjoy the company of others rather than enjoy the company of random people online on my phone. On this past Saturday, I took one hour off and during that hour, I was much more aware of my surroundings. While hanging out with my roommates, we had more meaningful conversations and did not just share comical things we saw on our phones. During that hour, I went to Iggy’s to get lunch and although I did check my empty pocket a couple of times to see where my phone was, I enjoyed the lunch more. My friends were aware that I was going phone-free and they decided to use their phones a little less as well because they liked the challenge. I would happily participate in an activity similar to this in the future as it was an eye opening and enjoyable experience