Tim Paradis

Right.

People just think that, like, come on, just put that phone away.

Right.

I mean, you're you're here.

You're supposed to be interacting.

You're supposed to be socializing.

Right.

So, in fact, I have this friend, I'm not going to name him, but he loves to just be on his phone when we're at restaurants.

And one time I was like, hey, buddy, like, would it be better if I WhatsApped you, right, so that you can actually look up from your screen?

Like, would that get a passer response?

Yeah.

And so I think what's happening is that we are overgeneralizing as observers.

Like, whenever they're on their phone, they can't be up to any good.

And even if they're taking photos, I don't care if they're actually more engaged, but they just seem less present.

And so what we actually found in one study is, is this just another instantiation of thubbing?

Do people just think that when you're on your phone taking photos, you're just ignoring everyone?

And so in one study, we actually manipulated in an experiment whether that person was using their phone to take photos or whether they're using a digital camera

Where the only purpose is to document.

And this was inspired by, of course, Gen Z's now love to take photos on digital cameras.

They think it's retro.