Smartphones have done a great job meeting the needs of today’s fast-paced lifestyle, connecting people with their loved ones with the simple touch of a fingertip.
However, this explosion of virtual connection has seen some individuals have far less time for each other in the real world.
“I feel like I’m ignored every time my boyfriend fidgets with his smartphone while we’re dating,” Sienni, 25, a bank officer, told The Jakarta Post recently.
She added that she usually responded by updating her Facebook status on her mobile phone, which reduced the quality of time they spent together.
Her boyfriend said that people needed to balance their virtual and real life, as technology could reduce a couple’s closeness or physical intimacy.
The falling prices of smartphones, which sell for as little as Rp 300,000 (US$32.6) for some brands, have enabled city dwellers to get connected to their family and friends.
Smartphones are simply mobile phones that offer advanced capabilities such as Internet access.
While it may not be a punishable offense to check emails via smartphones, it is clearly a visible addiction that some professionals or couples in the city are fast falling prey to.
“I am really in the habit of responding to the blinking light—an incoming email signal—on my mobile phone,” said Wendy, 25.
“I just can’t stop it,” he added. Wendy said he was aware of the danger of using his mobile phone too frequently, especially when he was on a date.
Imelda, Wendy’s girlfriend, said that she thought her boyfriend was selfish.
“I don’t want to be complacent about this situation, but it seems I have also been trapped in the same habit as my boyfriend,” she said, admitting that, like Sienni, she also preferred to fidget with her phone if she found her boyfriend playing with it while they were on a date.
The problem is even worse in the case of urban families whose parents and children share the same space during dinner, but spend the whole meal on their mobile phones.
“I once yelled at my mom because she always made phone calls or chatted with her friends during family dinner,” said Daniel, 23.
Daniel, believes his mom has slowly changed her habit.
“Sometimes parents are just too tired to make conversation with their children at the end of a long day, but I don’t understand why they still have the energy to keep twiddling with their mobile phones,”
he said.
The Indonesian Institute of Sciences’ (LIPI) sociologist Indria Samego told the Post that technology had transformed the way people thought about relationships.
“[Technology] has reduced the intensity of one’s personal relationships with others. However, physical meetings and dialogues are still crucial to straightening out misunderstandings and making the bonds between people much closer,” he said. (tsy)
