From the Atlantic:
It makes sense when you really think about it… too much convenience makes us lazy. When you can “socialize” with virtually all of your friends instantly from your smartphone, while wearing pajamas on your couch, you are less motivated to get out and socialize in person. Compounding that problem is the fact that humans need some level of face to face interaction to maintain good mental health.
Logically, it makes sense.
Yes…my youngest DS said he wishes now there weren’t smartphones. He was looking at all the cool stuff we did in college through pictures and mentioned they don’t do near as much. Plus, he recently got off twitter and FB…says it’s just too much.
Yes.
YES!!!
My kid argues that we won’t know for sure for 40 years. How will they do in careers, getting married, maintaining friendships, maintaining their health, and overall happiness as adults? There are pros and cons. I think she is right. But The Atlantic wants clicks. 
We were at a very trendy bar in downtown Boston early Friday night. All the young professionals were sitting around drinking and playing board games (the bar has a huge supply of them) with their friends.
the young professionals aren’t in the igeneration this article addresses. I’m amazed at home much high school has changed, technologically, between my 25 year old nephew and my kids. Almost unrecognizable.
My point was that people of all ages are always going to seek out face to face interactions with others.
I was in my room on my phone with my friends for hours and hours when I was a teen in the early 70’s.
My kid (who is now 24) didn’t leave the basement and all his interactions with friends was by text/on the computer for three years while in high school - until he and his friends got their driver’s license. Part of that was also due to the fact he went to a private school so his friends weren’t in the neighborhood and walkable to hang out with.
I also see very similar things we did once we got our first jobs in these young professionals. S is on his company’s softball team, for instance. I have no doubt once these kids in the article get to be that age they too will do the same things the millennials are doing.
Yes. The smartphone has shaped our lives. So did the telephone. Cars. Airplanes. Computers. The internet.
Thank goodness they weren’t around in college when streaking was popular. Could do without that snapchat!
The ability to take a photo or video so easily is the “blessing or curse” question.
I think all things go in cycles–the ability to instantly connect is a relatively new thing. There are tremendous advantages to instant connection. I also think when that cycle peaks it will send us towards another point when “face to face” becomes the norm again. It’ll even out at some point. We just aren’t there yet.
I see the problem more as “instant peer pressure”. We are bombarded by messages far outside immediate family and friends and haven’t yet figured out how to curb it.
BUT BUT BUT wait! I’ve been told for years and years on this forum and in the news that promiscuity was skyrocketing due to hook-up culture.
I’m a touch older than this cohort but still don’t remember a time before the internet and I’ve had a cell phone and social media (myspace) since at least middle school.
Personally, I’m thankful to have grown up in this day and age. I’m an extreme introvert and people wear me out so I like having the ability to connect when I want. Also as someone who is homebound much of the time, this gives me a social outlet that I wouldn’t have had in generations past.
But there is no evidence (at least presented) that one causes the other. As someone who has dealt with depression for over a decade, I can say that I spend more time with screens because I’m depressed and not the other way around. Before phone screens, I would just lay in my bed or on the couch watching TV, sleeping, or doing nothing.
Do I think social media (and it’s not smart phones really that the author is talking about- it’s social media) has magnified some issues? Yup.
But would I trade that for the fact that I talk to one of my best friends constantly despite 1,000 miles in between us and that I get to watch my baby nephew grow up two states away? Nope.
As the article points out, its purpose wasn’t to judge the current younger generation nor long for the past, but merely point out that a seismic shift has occurred in how teens socialize, and certain related behavior trends such as not driving, not working, etc. Those shifts have been both sudden and profound and it is unclear if they will be permanent .
I think the damage occurs in less obvious ways, and over time will destroy the ability to have meaningful relationships.
An example: Money. In the old days, when a group of friends went out to dinner they split the check XX ways. The process of paying wasn’t all about the money or fairness, it was about being social. So what if you paid an extra $5, they’re your friends.
Now, kids settle to the penny on Venmo, Paypal, and other apps. Your iced tea was 37 cents more than my coffee. You owe me $1.14. In the context of “fair” it’s accurate, but it misses so much of what binds people to one another.
6 words never uttered by anyone under 25: “Thanks, I’ll get you next time”. That’s very sad.
I agree @EyeVeee in general but so would my early twenties kids who have uttered those very words. One of mine refuses to get venmo (for various reasons). They are both use smartphones and social media but really limit it and seek out friends who do the same. Lots of dinner parties, outdoors pursuits, and “old school” fun are still very much part of their lives. They complain about overconnectedness and too many people with their heads looking down at screens. So, don’t give up hope on the younger generation and don’t paint too broad a brush.
From my own observations, I think people of our own generation are just as big offenders these days.
It’s not just the younger generation glued to screens. Just sayin’
“Destroyed a Generation” You mean like wars do?
I think the destruction referred to is largely emotional health. The statistics in the article show rapid changes in loneliness, anxiety, and related mental health issues. There is a very big difference in behavior between those who acquired smartphones in high school ( all those 25 year old young professionals) and those who actually grew up with them and never really learned to socialize without them.
One of the key things that drives me crazy is my D, and her generation, cannot read a map. Everything is on their phone. I’m sure they have no idea where they are geographically in the larger view.
I tease her all the time…What if you are in the hillsides of France and have no cell reception? You had better learn to carry a map and how to use it!!
Heck they are destroying Gen-x-ers and boomers too. I never, ever talk to my Mom anymore - we always text! I’m starting to think that’s not good. I called her the other day just to hear her voice. 
If my mom could have my CS son write a program which texted an appropriate response to the main topics my sisters and I always text to her, she could go on a year-long vacation without any of us really knowing. At least months anyway!