The increase in technology has led to a decrease in social skills.
This generation faces the unique situation of having limitless information available at all times with a stroke of a fingertip. We are surrounded by it.
Phones have become bed partners, dates, gym buddies, class distractions and homework helpers.
Many routines consist of spending the last hour before bed scrolling through social media on a brightly lit screen and waking up to groggily reach for the phone that has slipped further under the pillow during the night. The brief, forced separation during showers has even been interrupted by more prevalent waterproof cases.
But with this new limb most of us have acquired comes an unexpected consequence, a decline in the ability to interact face-to-face.
Most of us are guilty of using our phones to get out of conversation. Pulling out a phone at a party and pretending to text keeps strangers away and stops you from looking like a loner. Slipping headphones on and walking briskly will keep fliers out of your hands and stop most students from talking to you. Surfing the web at restaurants disposes of any brief silence during dinner dates.
It seems the more features smartphones come up with, the more dependent on being independent we become.
Phone calls and face-to-face conversation have been overtaken by texting. Texting has gotten to the point where people in the same room would rather stare at a screen than at each other.
Luckily, there has been a rise in options to help with the detachment anxiety smartphones have inadvertently provided this generation.
The University hosts not-for-credit classes that offer basic skills needed to interact face-to-face in settings that aren't only professional.
Friends have started phone stacks at restaurants and bars, placing all phones in the middle of the table. The first one to check his or her phone pays for everyone.
Some people have taken to putting away or turning off their phones an hour before bed to avoid temptation.
That's not to say technology hasn't helped communication.
As smartphones and social media have grown, technology has improved travel and meeting people from around the world is now easier than ever.
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