See what a high band reads like.

P1The claim that smartphones are eroding the quality of human interaction has become increasingly common, and I largely agree with it, although the effect depends heavily on how the technology is used.

P2Those who defend smartphones argue, with some justification, that these devices connect people across vast distances. A migrant worker can now see her children's faces daily, and online communities allow people with niche interests to find one another in ways that were previously impossible. In this sense, the technology has clearly widened our social reach.

P3Nevertheless, the damage to face-to-face interaction is difficult to ignore. The constant presence of a phone fragments attention, so that a dinner which should foster genuine conversation is repeatedly interrupted by notifications, and the mere sight of a handset on the table has been shown to make people disclose less and feel less connected. More worryingly, many users now default to a quick message rather than a call or a visit, substituting frequent but shallow contact for the deeper exchanges that sustain close relationships. Younger people, who have never known a world without these devices, seem especially prone to mistaking online validation for real intimacy.