I’ve been to cafes for a long time now. I find it a great place to gather friends and talk about different topics or even to study and/or work there. In my opinion, this is a great place for people to go to fulfill their social needs, whether it is to meet with people and interact with them, to know new people or even the simple fact of having people around. But in these last 4 or 5 years, I’ve noticed that the way people interact with each other in these establishments has shifted significantly due to technology.

A few years ago, I went to a coffee shop and saw something peculiar; a young couple sitting on a table, each one texting with their own smartphone, smiling at each other, but they didn’t talk much for a long time. I don’t really know what they were doing, but their interaction was certainly odd to me. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were shy, or maybe they were on a first date and couldn’t break the ice so they used their smartphones as some sort of refuge, who knows? I know this is an extreme example since then I never saw another situation like this. But the fact is that this example made me aware of how technology impacted the way people interact with each other, evident mainly on the younger generations. Since then I’ve been noticing that people tend to use their mobile devices as an intrinsic way to interact with each other, maintain a conversation and share their experience through social media.

With the rise of the Internet, mobile devices and social networks, it is easy to be absorbed into this global coffee where we can instantly connect with millions of people, which becomes Another way of meeting social needs, so I can understand where all this investment comes from around these new media. Sometimes, by mixing digital interaction with physical interaction, people will be able to feel all these social stimuli around them, which is perhaps something they need. In addition, I noticed that the most introverted people tend to use more their mobile devices in these public places, perhaps as a refuge of some sort.

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Note: For now I prefer to not go in depth on social media since it is a complex topic, so I might dedicate one post for this topic in the future.

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Personally, I do not consider this change as good or bad, since I can see the value of technology in social interaction. In these environments, when I'm with a group, I only use my smartphone as a way of checking fact to validate arguments in a conversation or calling friends to our location. Of course, this whole conversation becomes different if we are talking about a business meeting or if you decide to go work for coffee shop alone. In these cases, my focus will be more centralized in technology, since it is my field of work.

I believe that technology should be just a complement to the social interaction on cafes rather than the whole focus of it. For me, the physic social interaction is so rich that I don’t feel the need to add another layer of socialization. After all, we’ve always thrived in communities and socialized this way since the dawn of humanity.

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Image 1 | source
Image 2 | source

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Thank you for reading so far!

This is the first installment of a series where I'll give you my opinions regarding the impact of technology on society. I believe that technology has shaped us in some ways we are not aware, so I think that the best way to cope with it is to share opinions about these topics, and that's precisely what this series is all about!

What about you? What is your opinion on this topic? How did technology impact your social interaction on these establishments?

If you have any question or feedback, you know what to do!
Would you like to know more about me and my work? Then check my blog page!

See you soon,
Shaden