Intentional use of smartphones can signal specific social cues. It can avoid unwanted attention from others in public spaces. It can ease anxiety of being alone in a large social gathering. Putting your phone away when talking to someone shows that person they have your full attention. Showing someone pictures on your phone or looking something up online can aid conversations. Smartphones can distract you from your surroundings and pull you away from those you're with.
“Some very considerable part of the gestural language of public places, that had once belonged to cigarettes, now belonged to phones. Human figures, a block down the street, in postures utterly familiar, were no longer smoking.”
- William Gibson
Intentional use of smartphones can signal specific social cues. It can avoid unwanted attention from others in public spaces. It can ease anxiety of being alone in a large social gathering. Putting your phone away when talking to someone shows that person they have your full attention. Showing someone pictures on your phone or looking something up online can aid conversations. Smartphones can distract you from your surroundings and pull you away from those you're with.
