     Nine years ago on June 27 2007, the first smartphone was born. Steve Job's technology giant apple came out with the first generation iPhone which little did he know would change the course of social interaction in human history. The smartphone has likely taken away mankind's ability to socialize face to face for good, through the research in this course this has been proven to me. By examining various experts on technology's effect on social interaction and their research on those topics it is hard not to beg the question, are smartphones the death of human interaction?

     The first source use to provide support of this research question is Joshua Brustein's "We Now Spend More Time Staring at our Phones Than TVs", a comprehensive look at the specific amount of time that Americans spend staring at that little five inch screen. Brustien's examination of smartphone usage also brings to light not only the smartphones effect on human social skills but also, its effect on the marketing industry due to smartphone time consumptions taking over of the television industry. Joshua Brustein is a technology correspondent for Bloomberg Business and has worked as the senior staff editor for the New York Times. The examination of this sources background proves the validity of his research helping to make this Bloomberg Business article an extremely strong source in the proving of the smartphone time consumption thesis.

      The second source used in the proving of this thesis was an article written by Nick Bilton titled "Disruptions: More Connected, Yet More Alone. Bilton's article describes the modern age of technological obsession that man kind finds itself in today. By examining the over usage of phones Bilton looks at how the smartphone has directly effected everyday social skills. The article follows a woman, Ms.deGuzman through her daily life and underscores the scary reality of how attached to the iPhone the people of the world are. Starting at the beginning of the day, she wakes up looking at her phone while her husband tries to speak to her yet fails. As she goes about her daily tasks their is one obvious centerpiece in her life and in the lives of those around her, her iPhone. Nick Bilton has worked for the New York Times since 2003 and is an award winning technology columnist for this trustworthy publication. Not only has Bilton published many great columns for the New York Times but he has also published two books on technology and its impacts on social culture. Bilton's obvious technological expertise make his article the perfect source for this article on the smartphones social impacts on American culture. 

     The third source used to provide backup for my thesis takes a look not at smartphone usage but one of the biggest aspects of the smartphone world, Facebook. Through Rebecca Hiscotts article which examines research done on the actual statistics on how much time Americans spend scrolling through the news feed and how there is a correlation between the time spent on Facebook and how overall bad people feel about themselves. Hiscott's investigation uses the research done by Christina Sagioglou and Tobias Greitemeyer of the University of Innsbruck in Austria. In her examination of these studies Hiscott concluded that when more time is spent on Facebook rather then other activities that can be performed on the internet users are less fulfilled and even can report sadness. The most important aspect of this article is the realization that although users know that Facebook will have this effect on mood they continue to use Facebook for a terrifying amount of time everyday. Rebecca Hiscott is an editorial fellow for The Huffington Post writing on technology and its various effects helping to make her a very valuable source in proving the thesis on how technology effects society.

     From the birth of the Smartphone, Steve Jobs inadvertently took away the most important aspect of human life, our ability to look one another in the eye and have a conversation. Now when one walks down the street all he or she can see is the tops of peoples heads as they scroll through Facebook or text their friends instead of just sitting down with them and having a conversation. By examining these three sources this thesis is more then backed up through the extensive research and writing that Nick Bilton, Josh Brustein and Rebecca Hiscott have undertaken. If more Americans took the time to look at the effect that smartphones have on society they may still be able to change.
