As I was taking my regime evening walk to keep myself fit I came across people who were seated in the open area taking nonstop selfies and glued to their smartphones.

Most of them have visited the area to take their booster shots which is now going to be compulsory for those who wish to travel out.

Cuddling myself in the chilly weather I thought to myself that we have reached a stage where technology is ruining and impeding social interaction be it couples, colleagues, friends, strangers you see. I kept strolling around and I came across the same people taking more selfies of various styles to get their best shots.

Is this what life is all about? We selfie our self, post it on Instagram and TikTok, modify colour for the sake of glee, and try to get the number of likes and thumbs up on various social media sites anxiously waiting for the best comments to be posted by their friends. Thanks to our “COVID” friend for forcing everyone to wear a mask that we now can’t even identify a person who we knew.

Whether you are in an eatery, having a family dinner together, or in a metro, cab or even passing by someone our world is fiddling and flicking on smartphones. I can only reckon the time when many of us were bored during the lockdown period having nothing to do but focus on our little smartphones.

Whilst technology has its pros and cons making our lifestyle and communication at ease we at times skip the bad impact on the way humans socialise because it causes people to be less interactive which can lead to severe depression, anxiety, and despair. It’s not just spending copious amounts of time but it causes negative personality traits and a feeling of isolation that now many of us welcome it.

That’s why this year I have made my mind to shut off my phone late evening as more quality time can be spent revising things that I never used to do.

As I am growing up I now noticed a change in my writing styles and I have decided to also pen down something every day so that I get my beautiful calligraphy back as using smartphones makes us even slip spellings even.

With the new weekend holiday that has kickstarted, I am in awe of how significantly it will help in changing the habit of the people using smartphones as the main focus is on work-life balance and refining lifestyle.  

It’s time for me to connect with loved ones, listen to some pleasant favourite hits of mine on the radio, take part in some volunteering, read, write and move on this 2022.

Mathew Litty,
Dubai