1. Sheltered IntimacyA look at the degradation ofconversationPhoto by: horstmannsfotos

2. Within our rapidly advancing society,The requirement for communication is essential 3. The U.N. telecom agency says thatwere about 6 billion cellularsubscriptions at the end of 2011- roughly one phone for every86 of 100 peoplePhoto by: woodleywonderworks 4. It is quite easy to see theapparent benefits of cellphonesbut are they perhaps, detrimentalin some ways?Photo by: shutterbugamar 5. If youve ever pretended to be talking on your cellphone to avoid talking to, or acknowledgingsomeone nearby, youre not alone.A new survey says 1 in 13 Americans have usedthis ploy.Photo by: martinic 6. Families sit together spending timetextingfocusing on their phones insteadof each otherPhoto by: Taber 7. Executives text during boardmeetingspaying attention only towhat interests themPhoto by: Joi 8. A sixteen year old who relies ontexting for almost everything said:Someday, someday, but certainlynot now, Id like to learn how tohave a conversation.Photo by: SantioMB Photo 9. Are phones really helping us tocommunicate more effectively?Or do they isolate us from thisvery intent.Photo by: CamEvans 10. More than 40% of smart phone ownersentertain themselves with their phonewhen bored.For users 18 to 29, thats 70%.Photo by: simplyalex 11. Our attention spans last only aslong as the speed of our internetand anything less thaninstantaneous, is often ignored.Photo by: OHenze 12. Effective communication however,takestime &patienceto nurture and developPhoto by: Brian Auer 13. It can be difficult to be concernedabout the person in front of usWhen worrying about a readreceipt seen by someone elsemiles awayPhoto by: enkie22 14. We think that constant connectionwill make us feel less lonelybut if we are unable to bealone, then arent we more likely tocontinually feel lonelyPhoto by: magnath 15. It is time that we recognize anescape from our technology inducedsolitudeand open doors for ourselves froman intimate and personal mannerPhoto by: zlady 16. This starts by taking severalsteps: Photo by: Paolo Magari 17. At home we can createphone-free spacesPhoto by: Alex 18. Within relationships, we can listento one anotherputting aside our phonesduring time spent togetherPhoto by: iamarocker 19. Let us collectively pick up the piecesthat our phones have taken from usPhoto by: Bergmeier 20. And remove the shelter we havegrown so accustomed toPhoto by: Fernando Prieto 21. Sources http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/08/16/pew.cell.phone.report.gahran/index.html?iref=allsearch http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=all http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/10/11/un-cellphone-internet.html 22. Credits All images are licensed under the CreativeCommons and sourced from Flickr