In meetings, at a restaurant, even on the street, you can see people using smartphones. With the technology these days, this communication tool has been a big part of everybody’s daily life routine. Everybody use smartphones for social media, calling, and also other programs that can be downloaded. People say that smartphones have a lot of programs and they provide many communication tools. I guess part of it might be true but spending too much time on their phones stop people from communicating face to face. It makes their users feel more awkward talking to others. Comparing the benefits and disadvantages of smartphones, they do way more harm than good. Smartphones cause neck pain and damage to your spine, it makes people less active, and it also reduces conversation between peers.

Smartphones are harmful because using them too much makes you feel pain in your neck and on your spine. Smartphones are “a pain in the neck”. When you look at your phone, don’t you look down? While you look down, this position is extremely harmful for your neck and spine. “A smartphone user spend two to four hours a day looking down at their phone,” experts said. When you think about add so much weight on your neck for two to four hours everyday, it is really unhealthy. Whenever I use my phone for too long time, I tend to have a sore in the neck that doesn’t go away quickly. The more you put your head down, the more weight you add to your neck. I think that your neck is as hardworking as any part of your body and you should treat it with care. Those problems are having a serious affect on our lives, and smartphones are to blame.

Having pain in the neck is not the only disadvantage of smartphone users. Teenagers are spending more and more time going on social media and play video games rather than going outside and hang out with friends. Maybe you hang out with friends once in awhile, but how many times have you seen your friends on their phone? Research shows that people who use smartphones are more likely to do poor in fitness assessments comparing to others who don’t use smartphones that much. Although smartphones are kind of similar to how TV or a computer works, the size of a smartphone makes it easy to carry to anywhere you like. It is possible for you to develop nomophobia, a fear of being out of mobile phone contact. Everybody tend to have the habit of just sit and play, making them less active.

Whenever teenagers call their friends to hangout and ‘chat’, you would always see them playing on their phones or going on social media most of the time. Even though they might have thousands or even millions of friends on Facebook or Twitter, how many friends do they actually talk to in the real life? People are becoming more and more disconnected in real life. Social anxiety has been affecting around fifteen million Americans, and the disorder usually start around thirteen years old. You are probably going to wonder what social anxiety actually do to you. Social anxiety makes people to fear judgement from others around them. It also causes depression. Smartphones are affecting everybody around, including you and I.

Up until this point, some people may say that phones have many apps or programs that allow us with more communication tools. Instead of just calling and texting, there is also email and video calls. When you go on social media, you can know what is happening and stay connected with friends and family. If you think about it, it is true. But if you look closely, you can see drawbacks. While you may also agree with that quote, social media made less and less people have face to face conversations. If you are a smartphone user, don’t you feel a bit awkward when you talk to your friends sometimes? This is caused by social media and the phones. Maybe in the near future, talking face to face may be strange for the future generation.

Comparing the harm and benefits, smartphones cause more harm than benefits. Smartphones creates burden on your necks, it makes you less active, and it also causes social anxiety. Even though some people may not agree and say that smartphones offer a variety of choices to communicate with others but because more and more people communicate on smartphones, they actually become more socially awkward when they step outside their phone. If people would just put down their phones, they can experience a healthy life and have fun while hanging out with friends, not just sitting down in the living room and play on their phone. Maybe instead of spending a lot of time on social media, you might as well spending more time on your hobbies or go outdoors. When you get older, you want to have memories of your friends and family times, not just remembering what you did on Facebook or Twitter right?