Hold on….let me finish scrolling through my Instagram feed.

Ok now let me just answer these Snapchats.

I’m almost ready to talk now one sec.

I’m sure that’s not the first time you’ve ever heard someone say something to that effect.  We live in a generation where smartphones have taken priority over face-to-face interactions.  Although that may be considered the norm now, it hasn’t always been like this.

Past generations, including Millennials, have always based their social lives around hanging out with friends in person.  Especially in one’s teen years, they believed that the way you interact with others is by meeting up or talking on the landline phone.

This encouraged vocal dialogue and the use of facial expressions.

The first iPhone was only released in 2007, and since then we have experienced a massive paradigm shift in the way we interact, spend our free time, and feel about ourselves and others.  Jean M. Twenge, the author of “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”, calls this generation ruled by smartphones, iGen.  iGen’s ideologies have completely shifted in terms of socializing.  Teens, who in past generations used to hang out in person, are now glued to their smartphone devices instead.

The dominant ideology is now replaced by what was just an emergent ideology when the first smartphones were released. Now, teens consider liking and commenting on each others photos, texting, and snapchatting to be the new form of being “social” with friends.  The shift away from the ideologies of what socializing means began with the invention of smartphones.  Smartphones have allowed people to stay connected to whoever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want.  However, are we even really connected?

We see posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat of teens having loads of fun together, but are they really enjoying themselves? The shift has caused teens to want to look like they are having fun more than they actually want to have fun.  So now, teens are less worried about having plans, and more worried about looking like they have plans.  This paradigm shift has led to major spikes in depression and suicide rates among teens.  More teens overall considered themselves happy in past generations than those of iGen.

Clearly, a paradigm shift has occurred beginning with the invention of smartphones.  Teens are recreating what “hanging out” looks like, and sadly, it might not be the best thing for their mental health.  So next time you’re with your friends, maybe talk to them before checking your social media feeds.