Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

One day a week, you can work only on one thing instead of keeping multiple browser tabs open. It’s a gimmick, certainly, but the basic idea is gaining traction.

even a silent phone: Andrew Przybyliski and Netta Weinstein, “Can You Connect with Me Now? How the Presence of Mobile Communication Technology Influences Face-to-Face Conversation Quality,” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (2012): 1–10, doi:10.1177/0265407512453 827; Shalini Misra, Lulu Cheng, Jamie Genevie, et al., “The iPhone Effect:

puts us into a state similar to vigilance: Giles M. Phillips, “Mobile Users Are More Vigilant than Situated Users,” in Human-Computer Interaction, Part III, HCI 2014, LNCS 8512, Masaaki Kurousu, ed. (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2014): 166–77.

Obey the seven-minute rule. This is the rule, suggested to me by a college junior, that grows out of the observation that it takes at least seven minutes to see how a conversation is going to unfold.

this will degrade the performance: Faria Sana, Tina Weston, and Nicholas J. Cepeda, “Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and Nearby

Think of unitasking as the next big thing. In every domain of life, it will increase performance and decrease stress.

Time with people teaches children how to be in a relationship, beginning with the ability to have a conversation.

problem. Studies show that the mere presence of a phone on the table (even a phone turned off) changes what people talk about. If we think we might be interrupted, we keep conversations light, on topics of little controversy or consequence.

I’m not suggesting that we turn away from our devices. To the contrary, I’m suggesting that we look more closely at them to begin a more self-aware relationship with them.

A 2015 Pew Research study reported that younger users of mobile phones “stand out prominently when it comes to using their phones for two purposes in particular: avoiding boredom, and avoiding people around them.” Aaron Smith, “U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015,” Pew Research Center for Internet, Science, and Technology, April 1, 2015,