Yes, old man. I'm spending a lot of time on my phone, but who the hell asked for your opinion?

Shock announcement: Blogging is a lot of work.

No matter what anyone says about the ease of setting up a platform and posting to your heart's content, if you really want to get somewhere, it takes so much more dedication - dedication that I can't find amongst my sea of adult commitments.

But I try to find time anyway, and that usually comes during my daily walks into work. Turns out you can get a lot of admin work done on a stroll. Plus the fresh air is great for waking me up and giving me inspiration for my posts, which I start typing up on Google docs.

The system works, but apparently old people have a problem with it.

Walking over to the Labour Party Hustings this morning (yes, I'm a filthy socialist), I was accosted by an elderly gentleman, whose rant seemed to consist of 50% content, 25% rambling and 25% saliva.

He started to aggressively shout about how young people spend "too much time on their phones" and that it's a "generational disgrace," to see so many young people glued to screens. 

As he started to demand I put my phone away, I did the normal thing you do when a weird old person stops you in the street - just rolled my eyes and walked away. Chances are my girlfriend probably wanted me to be more confrontational, as people never learn it you don't, but that's not who I am. Far too laid back to feel the urge to set everyone straight.

But instead, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to write about this and see if anyone has similar experiences to mine. Get in touch if you do!

You see, the thing is I don't disagree with some of the content of what he's saying. Dr Genavee Brown at Northumbria University recently wrote about this in The Conversation - talking about a so-called “distraction multitasking” when people talk and use their phones at the same time leading to a reduction in the quality of communication. In many situations, it’s a device to distract from social cues and face-to-face interaction.

Hell, the industry has been forced to look like they agree, half-heartedly implementing all kinds of mindfulness features, which should encourage you to take a break but nobody ever uses.

But the delivery could've been less "old man yells at cloud," and the key question here (an important one) is who the hell asked for your opinion?

I am sick and tired of this low bar for discourse, set out by a toxically divisive political system, where people feel they can accost strangers on the street with their one sided argument and shout people down with an "I'm right, you’re wrong '' attitude.

As a tech and culture blogger, you stepped into my wheelhouse, and I would have been up for wasting some time and having a debate with you about human relationships with smartphones.

My first flip phone.

So here is what you missed in your incredibly one sided view - the power of community afforded to you by smartphones. Chances are you made new friends at the likes of the rotary club, which is not a bad thing. But phones have opened up the door to many new ways of making physical connections. 

Doing 5 star raids on Pokemon GO - I’ll never get the gameplay attraction to POGO, but I do understand that the reason why people stick to the game is the communities built around it.

You’ve also got communities on reddit (shoutout to the NADDPOD UK fans), dating apps breaking down the barriers for those who live that 24/7 working grind, and hell, even Facebook can be used to bring people together (maybe at the expense of your personal information though).

Phones are not the enemy. The world is moving at a faster rate of innovation than you can keep up with, and I’ve no doubt that it can be rather isolating to not feel compatible with infrastructure that is being purpose built for young professionals, but that’s not our fault - nor do we want that to be inflicted upon you. 

It’s just a passage of life. Is it perfect? No! I would love everyone of all ages to feel like they have a place in this world, but given the current woeful levels of investments into local towns (the mines closed and government’s plan was to pay into cities and watch that trickle into towns - it didn’t) and social care, this is where we are.

I’d hope that some part of you feels a sense of fulfilling your contract to the next generation. Just like boomers such as yourself felt the benefits of a world tailor-made for yourselves, we deserve that too. 

Or as my Grandad said: “Leave this place a little better than when you found it.”

Welcome to the present, old man. I’m here to help you find your way around if you need me.