Sherry Turkle has been studying people's use of mobile technology for 15 years. In this article in the New York Times she reflects on a new way of life: "I share, therefore I am." But now what we want to share is pictures. Teens and even younger kids are caught up in possessing a photograph of their experience: "A selfie, like any photograph, interrupts experience to mark a moment." It is a sign of the times that three world leaders, David Cameron of the U.K., Barack Obama of the U.S., and Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, took a picture of themselves in the middle of the memorial service for Nelson Mandela.
Similarly, we break up our days by texting everywhere conceivable – in meetings, at school, in church, during movies, at dinner with friends.
When we get put ourselves and those we love "on pause" while we text someone else or document the moment with a photograph, we are refusing to be present with our own thoughts and feelings. We are at a point now where more and more people are becoming enslaved to their mobile devices; they use them to block out loneliness or combat boredom.