Slashdot Mirror
Have Smartphones Killed the Art of Conversation? (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Not quite, but it's certainly more than a blip in the cultural history of communication: in 2017, for the first time, the number of voice calls -- remember, those things you did with your actual voice on your actual phone -- fell in the UK. Meanwhile, internet addiction keeps growing, presumably because we haven't quite worked out what to do with all those hours we're saving on talking.
More than three-quarters (78%) of British adults own a smartphone, and we check them on average every 12 minutes. That adds up to 24 hours a week online via our phones -- much of that time swallowed up by modern-style chat on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, with some left over for texting. It has taken a toll on talking, sure, but few smartphone users might claim to feel less connected as a result.
Now, the idea of ringing someone for "a chat" has a quaint, retro quality. I can, and will, talk you under the table, but phone calls are a luxury usually reserved for about five people: my mum, my sister, two best friends and my editor, obviously. Even then, I'm rubbish at picking up. Much is made about smartphones leading to dumber conversation -- amid claims that the art of chatter has been lost. Arguably, however, conversation has simply been rebooted and reconfigured. Take the myriad ways in which we can and do communicate now. It's a given that I will spend an embarrassing portion of my day glued to a screen (It's work!) and much of that will be chatting (again, it's work!).
More than three-quarters (78%) of British adults own a smartphone, and we check them on average every 12 minutes. That adds up to 24 hours a week online via our phones -- much of that time swallowed up by modern-style chat on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, with some left over for texting. It has taken a toll on talking, sure, but few smartphone users might claim to feel less connected as a result.
Now, the idea of ringing someone for "a chat" has a quaint, retro quality. I can, and will, talk you under the table, but phone calls are a luxury usually reserved for about five people: my mum, my sister, two best friends and my editor, obviously. Even then, I'm rubbish at picking up. Much is made about smartphones leading to dumber conversation -- amid claims that the art of chatter has been lost. Arguably, however, conversation has simply been rebooted and reconfigured. Take the myriad ways in which we can and do communicate now. It's a given that I will spend an embarrassing portion of my day glued to a screen (It's work!) and much of that will be chatting (again, it's work!).
Judging from the woman with the impressively-painted nails who sat in front of me on the subway in Chicago a few weeks ago, I would have to say no. Although I do hope that she eventually learns that you can use your indoor voice when you're on your smartphone.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Rubbish. Moderation made Slashdot. It's what allowed the conversation to stand out from usenet. First Digg and later Reddit copied it, with the Reddit founders explicitly stating they were copying and aiming at Slashdot (their 10th anniversary podcast).
The difference isn't moderation, it was that the other sites evolved to allow moderation for all. Digg added conversation for all with user posting. Reddit then added subdivision - the subreddit idea. Digg learned this the hard way - when they took away user moderation, they collapsed and Reddit became the beneficiary.
Whether it's for good or ill, who knows? It's different. I'm active on Slashdot, and Reddit. I was vaguely active on Digg but more a lurker than anything else. Slashdot still mostly stays with on topic conversation and hasn't devolved into the predictability of the Reddit response, but then again on Reddit I can talk about a wider amount of things and post my own questions to smaller audience that's just about the topic at hand. There's room in the world for both.
I don't know, have typewriters killed the art of penmanship?
Absolutely, yes.
I rarely write anything by hand any more and as a result, my handwriting is terrible compared to what it used to be.