Every time I turn round to talk to someone, whether it is my mother, the wife or my friends they are always stuck on their phone. Staring at it like their life has flashed before them.

People will not put their phones down for more than an hour because of social networking. Does this piss anyone else off? I feel like I am in my own little bubble right now.

I dislike mobile phones, being reachable everywhere at any time is not a great thing.
Git off my lawn you young whippersnappers!

I think it's mostly a problem with the younger generations, although some older people are the same way. I'm pretty anti-social, so I don't do it. I do have a Facebook account, but I only log into it about once every 2 months. I don't have it connected to my phone at all. Personally, I don't give a shit what everybody else had for lunch, whether they just had a nice shower, how well they liked the latest episode of some TV show, or any of the other completely uninteresting things people usually spam their Facebook profiles with. If someone has a problem they need my input for, I expect them to write or call me personally rather than posting it online in vague attention-seeking terms for all the world to see.

I do find it annoying when we have guests, and they spend most of the time they are at our house looking at their phones. To me, that's a different kind of anti-social behavior than what I usually exhibit.

There is nothing wrong with being anti social but that is just rude.

I actually just finished an argument with the wife because I just told her to put the bloody thing away haha. I see guys do it at the gym, people walking across an extremely busy road, getting on and off trains (and occasionally falling) it scares me thinking we're becoming so stupid.

We have our own bubble don't we? called Personal Computer? =)
But yeah, I agree. However I'm a grumpy person who does not like social networks and gets annoyed at his phone if it makes noise too often.

Mobiles are banned in our household (for health reasons as much as the anti-social and cost side). We all talk to each other like normal human beings, and are a happy social bunch of folk with great social skills.

We also don't get run over while crossing roads or waste much of our time in phone shops chasing 'deals'.

It is better this way.

Quick questions.
Does it bother you that they are staring at their phones or that they are spending time on social networks?
Would them talking on the phone or playing games on it be better or worse?
Would them surfing the web and/or social networks on the computer be preferrable?
What if they are checking e-mails or sending reports?

Extra question. Would them doing whatever they are doing with face to face communication instead of through their phone annoy you as much?

I think people look absolutely ridiculous glued to their phones all the time. They've taken an opportunity for freedom - "I don't have to sit by the phone and wait for that call" - and turned it into a mobile ball and chain.

Where I work, I have to let people through a gate after they submit paperwork to me. I HATE it when they don't have the common courtesy to stop talking for five seconds; they can blab away on the phone but apparently saying "Hello" is beyond them.

I don't know anyone like that.

Best guess: It's not that people are using their phones to do stuff. It's that they're doing it all the goddamn time, meaning they are not paying any attention to the people around them. If another person is sitting at the other end of the couch from you, and the only way to reliably get their attention is to post something on their Facebook wall, that is a cause for annoyance.

1. Both... it's not healthy and I HATE people obsessing over social networking.
2. No, constantly yapping on the phone is quite annoying however that is what they are made for. As for gaming, I feel the same way I do about portable social networking and camera phones... it fucking sucks. We shouldn't be buying phones to play games.
3. Social networking as a whole bothers me. I don't mind it on light occasions but when it becomes obsessive it's just as bad either way.
4. Nothing wrong with checking emails, I do it on my phone. A fairly harmless task and quite useful on the go (not when you're walking into traffic). However constant *BEEP BEEP BEEP* when someone on facebook wants you to know they've had a big shite and are feeling needy is extremely annoying.

Extra Question: I miss the days when people would arrange a time to do it face to face. It is atleast a lot healthier (and you could slap the needy little shits in the face! :P).

Are we done trying to make me sound little a miserable, grumpy old shite? :D

I also dislike how seven year olds are walking around with phones that are fancier than mine.

My son's school chums all have ipads. I have been told I am a bad parent because I refuse to buy him one. They are 5 years old!!!

It's basically same stuff but happening much more rapidly.

My phone is 6 or 7 years old so no advanced features and I don't need them obviously. PC is more than enough eye damage, staring at the phone 24/7 is just overkill.

Obviously kids need $800 gadgets, those are necessary for their education and development.