Have you also noticed

[Dinglejedi]

Just come back off my holidays in Greece, as you sit having a cool drink doing the great pass time of people watching I noticed ~

That people generally under the age of 30 yrs old (mostly female) are constantly walking around with their mobile phone glued in the palm of an out stretched arm as though it was keeping their heart going.
It is like watching a brain dead robot that cannot function without its power pack.

And to top it off they no longer put the phone to their head they have to talk to it and everyone else has to bloody well listen, its driving me mad.

Is it an age thing as I am 57 or has society truly gone to the dogs, for gods sake if you have spent £1500 to get away from this country why the need to keep in constant contact.

Rant over.

[Deathtrip]

Just come back off my holidays in Greece, as you sit having a cool drink doing the great pass time of people watching I noticed ~

That people generally under the age of 30 yrs old (mostly female) are constantly walking around with their mobile phone glued in the palm of an out stretched arm as though it was keeping their heart going.
It is like watching a brain dead robot that cannot function without its power pack.

And to top it off they no longer put the phone to their head they have to talk to it and everyone else has to bloody well listen, its driving me mad.

Is it an age thing as I am 57 or has society truly gone to the dogs, for gods sake if you have spent £1500 to get away from this country why the need to keep in constant contact.

Rant over.

Agree with what you say
The world is f**ked.

[dandeclaret]

Always find the world is a better place if you do you, and don’t get upset by meaningless behaviour of others that doesn’t really impact your life. You’re in an amazing place, enjoy it ffs.

[Dark Cloud]

I do find the increasing propensity for people to hold phone conversations in public places on "speaker phone" rude and intrusive. It happens in cafés and public transport and in shops and it's absolutely rife in the gym I go to. One guy was having a conversation with someone regarding not being liable for the alleged arrears on his council tax because he'd been in prison at the time and could prove it (whilst energetically using a cross trainer without breaking stride!)

[Andreshotboots]

How the ladies carried their phones was the last thing I was looking at when I was on the beach in Greece 3 weeks ago

[scouseclaret]

They also spend most of their holidays taking heavily orchestrated photos with stupid pouty poses to post on their socials

[gandhisflipflop]

I’m only 35 but the other month I was on the underground in London and I was the only one with the phone in my pocket. It actually made me sad.

[Rileybobs]

I’m only 35 but the other month I was on the underground in London and I was the only one with the phone in my pocket. It actually made me sad.

You should have just got it out of your pocket.

[agreenwood]

I get more annoyed by every professional club in football now using the long throw.

[exilecanada]

Always find the world is a better place if you do you, and don’t get upset by meaningless behaviour of others that doesn’t really impact your life. You’re in an amazing place, enjoy it ffs.

As ‘Dinglejedi’ mentioned “And to top it off they no longer put the phone to their head they have to talk to it and everyone else has to bloody well listen, its driving me mad” That kind of behaviour DOES impact others and it’s bloody ignorant and totally selfish!

[The Shire Claret]

The same generation you are criticising say things like ‘I can’t believe our mums and dads constantly had a cigarette in their hands and didn’t exercise, I was always breathing in their smoke in the car’ etc

I think we look at our own generations with tinted glasses on and your make a great point but it’s not everyone and evey generation had their vices …

1900 … that woman’s constantly had the head in a book … stop living in fantasy world

1970 - bloody hippies !

1990 … that lads always watching films and tv … get some fresh air

2010 - that lads always watching on his blooming playstation … he’s amount to nowt

2025 - that woman’s never off her phone

[Clovius Boofus]

Some of you should count yourselves lucky. Getting miffed at such trivialities shows you don't have much to worry about in life, unless you're deflecting.

[Hutchy]

Been saying it for ages. The world would be a better place without social media and smartphones. For those of us who can remember...it absolutely WAS a better place without social media and smartphones. This isn't nostalgia talking. It's fact.

People used to actually meet up with each other and hang out. People would actually talk and know how to hold a conversation. People would actually enjoy events and be present in the moment. Look at atmospheres in football stadiums in the 90s/00s. That was passion. Compare that to today. People lost on their phones, even inside football stadiums. Honestly sad to see.

It's ridiculous to think that a handheld device can have such a bad influence on the mind and on a person. There is a generation of narcissists, fakes, show offs and pretenders growing up today all because of this social media ****. People ruining their looks with plastic surgery for fake attention, likes and popularity from people who don't know them and who don't give a **** about them. Seriously sad.

I would shut down the entirety of social media tomorrow if I had the ability to do so and get the old mobiles back up and running. The ones where you can only text and make calls from. I'm having a Nokia 3210 with snake on it over this iPhone **** every day of the week.

Bring back the 90s. Those were the days.

Apologies for the rant.

[Clovius Boofus]

This place is a form of social media. Posting on here isn't much different from posting on X or Facebook, etc.

[CoolClaret]

Been saying it for ages. The world would be a better place without social media and smartphones. For those of us who can remember...it absolutely WAS a better place without social media and smartphones. This isn't nostalgia talking. It's fact.

People used to actually meet up with each other and hang out. People would actually talk and know how to hold a conversation. People would actually enjoy events and be present in the moment. Look at atmospheres in football stadiums in the 90s/00s. That was passion. Compare that to today. People lost on their phones, even inside football stadiums. Honestly sad to see.

It's ridiculous to think that a handheld device can have such a bad influence on the mind and on a person. There is a generation of narcissists, fakes, show offs and pretenders growing up today all because of this social media ****. People ruining their looks with plastic surgery for fake attention, likes and popularity from people who don't know them and who don't give a **** about them. Seriously sad.

I would shut down the entirety of social media tomorrow if I had the ability to do so and get the old mobiles back up and running. The ones where you can only text and make calls from. I'm having a Nokia 3210 with snake on it over this iPhone **** every day of the week.

Bring back the 90s. Those were the days.

Apologies for the rant.

For once Hutchy, agreed.

I deleted/deactivated my social media about 24 months ago. Best thing I ever did.

I remembered for a period back in like in 2016 I just couldn't be bothered with my smart phone, and went 9 months with a dumb phone. Made so much progress with my goals because I could really lock in.

Sadly for what I do I need a smart phone for 2 factor auth, but if I could I'd bin it off.

[beddie]

Dog walkers not taking their eyes off the palm of their hand holding a mobile, their other hand has the dog extension lead in it so they’ve no idea that their dogs shitting behind them all over the pavement.

Both parents not taking their eyes off their phones in a cafe/ restaurant completely ignoring their children.

Can you tell I don’t really like mobiles, I only use mine for emergencies.

[Procrastinate B]

Every era has its good and bad aspects, we just forget the bad bits and get nostalgic about the great memories of our younger days.

Not saying the phone thing is great, it isn’t; but as another post says further up, in 20/30 years or so it will no doubt be the zombie generation lamenting everyone wearing Apple Vision spectacles.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

With the low cost of Bluetooth headphones, it amazes me that people still have to wave their phones around everywhere

Especially when phones are easier to steal from your hand

[Tribesmen]

Or on the other hand , Mrs Tribes says to me "don't forget to take your phone with you when we go out " . I did say what don't you take you phone instead , she said its only for work use . Hummm maybe I need a get a much younger model ...

[Tricky Trevor]

They also spend most of their holidays taking heavily orchestrated photos with stupid pouty poses to post on their socials

And for some strange reason in a lozenge shape frame. Very odd.

[Hutchy]

For once Hutchy, agreed.

I deleted/deactivated my social media about 24 months ago. Best thing I ever did.

I remembered for a period back in like in 2016 I just couldn't be bothered with my smart phone, and went 9 months with a dumb phone. Made so much progress with my goals because I could really lock in.

Sadly for what I do I need a smart phone for 2 factor auth, but if I could I'd bin it off.

For anybody thinking about deactivating, I'd highly recommend it. You won't look back. These platforms are designed to hook people in and make you feel as if you are missing out if you leave them or don't have an account. You are not missing out on anything. I speak from experience, which you can probably back up too from your own experiences, CC.

You're right. Sadly it isn't possible to totally bin off smartphones today as people need them for work, online banking, making payments etc.

This might be going into conspiracy territory but I believe this is all by design. I recently received a text saying the 3g network or signal in my area is being turned off. It said I don't have a phone that is compatible with 4g and that I would need to upgrade. I know of some older folk who have received similar messages. This feels like a ploy to push people towards smartphones. Even if any of us want to go back to those old classic phones, we can't because the bastards are switching the 3g networks off!

The official line is that there isn't much demand for 3g services anymore and that it's a business decision to shut them off. I'm not so sure myself.

[CoolClaret]

For anybody thinking about deactivating, I'd highly recommend it. You won't look back. These platforms are designed to hook people in and make you feel as if you are missing out if you leave them or don't have an account. You are not missing out on anything. I speak from experience, which you can probably back up too from your own experiences, CC.

You're right. Sadly it isn't possible to totally bin off smartphones today as people need them for work, online banking, making payments etc.

This might be going into conspiracy territory but I believe this is all by design. I recently received a text saying the 3g network or signal in my area is being turned off. It said I don't have a phone that is compatible with 4g and that I would need to upgrade. I know of some older folk who have received similar messages. This feels like a ploy to push people towards smartphones. Even if any of us want to go back to those old classic phones, we can't because the bastards are switching the 3g networks off!

The official line is that there isn't much demand for 3g services anymore and that it's a business decision to shut them off. I'm not so sure myself.

It's by design in terms of wanting to beam as much adverts / get as much data about people as possible, to tailor ads etc for them to try and get more revenue,

Agree with the rest of it and concur - you aren't missing out on anything from deleting social media. If you want to keep in touch with people get their mobile number and give them a call and arrange to meet up.

There's simply substitute for face-to-face interactions.

[Pickles]

Been saying it for ages. The world would be a better place without social media and smartphones. For those of us who can remember...it absolutely WAS a better place without social media and smartphones. This isn't nostalgia talking. It's fact.

People used to actually meet up with each other and hang out. People would actually talk and know how to hold a conversation. People would actually enjoy events and be present in the moment. Look at atmospheres in football stadiums in the 90s/00s. That was passion. Compare that to today. People lost on their phones, even inside football stadiums. Honestly sad to see.

It's ridiculous to think that a handheld device can have such a bad influence on the mind and on a person. There is a generation of narcissists, fakes, show offs and pretenders growing up today all because of this social media ****. People ruining their looks with plastic surgery for fake attention, likes and popularity from people who don't know them and who don't give a **** about them. Seriously sad.

I would shut down the entirety of social media tomorrow if I had the ability to do so and get the old mobiles back up and running. The ones where you can only text and make calls from. I'm having a Nokia 3210 with snake on it over this iPhone **** every day of the week.

Bring back the 90s. Those were the days.

Apologies for the rant.

I don't disagree. But this itself is social media.

[Darthlaw]

Mad one I saw this summer was the number of folk with their phones IN the swimming pools, in some sort of waterproof 'jiffy bag' tied round their necks with a bit of rope.

We truly have reached the point where people can't even go swimming without being hooked on their socials.

[Burnley1989]

Ive noticed going abroad in Spain is no longer cheaper than two weeks in the UK if you live up north.
A 2 week holiday for my 5 is 8-10k with spending money, and thats not living flash at all, ill probably have 5 beers a day at that

I think the locals will get what they want, it will be interesting to see their economy in 10 years

[duncandisorderly]

Ive noticed going abroad in Spain is no longer cheaper than two weeks in the UK if you live up north.
A 2 week holiday for my 5 is 8-10k with spending money, and thats not living flash at all, ill probably have 5 beers a day at that

I think the locals will get what they want, it will be interesting to see their economy in 10 years

A fortnight in spain for a family of 5 is ten grand?

I may have missed a joke, which I don't mind. But please fill me in if I have.

[NottsClaret]

Bring back the 90s. Those were the days.

Thought you’d think that.

[Ptangyangkipperbang]

I really do hate the internet and how we have sort of been forced to use it for everything.I need to go on it for work related things then after which I suddenly find ive spent ages looking at crap.Every so often I try and do at least a week without looking at anything online and I always feel better for not being on it but still find myself picking my phone up and then have to think I'm not using it. But when I find I do eventually go back for just something like to check the football results I'm straight back into looking endlessly at rubbish. I certainly agree with other posters the world was a far better place before the internet

[dandeclaret]

There’ll be some fresh clouds for you lot to shout at in the morning…. Be patient

[ElectroClaret]

A fortnight in spain for a family of 5 is ten grand

Ten grand is fierce.

[Jakubclaret]

It's not good unless you harness it in the right way. Like anything in life moderation is key.

[ksrclaret]

It's not good unless you harness it in the right way. Like anything in life moderation is key.

Could you troll this message board in moderation then, please?

[Jakubclaret]

Could you troll this message board in moderation then, please?

Stop being silly. Nobody is trolling differences of opinion are occurring that is all.

[ksrclaret]

Stop being silly. Nobody is trolling differences of opinion are occurring that is all.

Oh, there are differences of opinions alright. If there is one thing you're good at, it's finding the different opinion.

[dvalley69]

Sadly, social media has just made everything a BRAND! Marketing is the evil spirit in all of this and that's all social media is; presenting an image of something/oneself that is most likely false or distorted. And as we know, a marketing mentality sells anything for a bit of money & attention. Add that to just everyday people and values no longer exist: it's all me, me, me!

[CardyTheClaret]

It's not often me and the wife going out to the pub for a meal but a week or so ago we did and we noticed so many couple and families all looking at their phones and not talking to each other - most younger males wearing tracksuits and trainers, most covered in tattoos and many sucking on a vapes. Yes, it did make me feel old and a little bit sad about the world.

[dvalley69]

Have you also noticed... the Ibiza Final Boss is gonna be a millionaire. That's why the world is a mess! We once had The Beatles become legends and rich - rightly so - but now it's the Ibiza Final boss!!

[Dressinggown]

It's not just a mobile phone / social media society.

I was in a chain pub recently and there were a group of around 8 blokes who were ensuring that everyone could hear them spout their bullshit*t in the venue despite them being within feet of each other.

Talking has had a sad demise. Everyone wants to be heard about their pointless existence.

I thought that there was a serious altercation outside my house today but it was just the neighbours having a 'conversation' whilst both were videoing on their mobiles.

Shouting is the new norm.

[Dark Cloud]

Sadly, social media has just made everything a BRAND! Marketing is the evil spirit in all of this and that's all social media is; presenting an image of something/oneself that is most likely false or distorted. And as we know, a marketing mentality sells anything for a bit of money & attention. Add that to just everyday people and values no longer exist: it's all me, me, me!

Check out "Just Say No to the Logo", great and very relevant song by Henry Priestman.

[Culmclaret]

Every generation has its moral panic. If you go back to the early seventeenth century people were banging on about the degeneracy of the young compared with the times of Good Queen Bess. The wartime Golden generation were horrified by the Teds in the late 50s and no doubt in a few years Generation Z will be moaning about the Alphas! This doesn’t mean that all social change is necessarily for the better just that as we get older we should be aware that what we think of as normal or good is very specific to our own generation.

[CaptJohn]

One thing that annoys me is di*kheads of both sexes and all age groups wandering around with headphones or earpieces conducting conversations with zero spatial awareness. They are a nuisance on pavements and lethal when crossing roads. I've recently experienced two morons on bicycles with headphones on, cross right ahead of me whilst driving. One of them, a young woman, actually fell off her bike in shock when she realised I was there. I'd stopped by this time because I'd already taken in the scenario and acted accordingly. Hopefully they learn from their experiences but I doubt it.

[Venkys4eva]

.

Even if any of us want to go back to those old classic phones, we can't because the bastards are switching the 3g networks off!

The official line is that there isn't much demand for 3g services anymore and that it's a business decision to shut them off. I'm not so sure myself.

About 2.4% of the uk population use 3g phones and thats decreasing all the time. There are plenty of phones like the nokia 3210 4G for example that offer a more basic experience for users who dont want all the extras.

[Clovius Boofus]

Ive noticed going abroad in Spain is no longer cheaper than two weeks in the UK if you live up north.
A 2 week holiday for my 5 is 8-10k with spending money, and thats not living flash at all, ill probably have 5 beers a day at that

Blimey. Where are you going in Spain, and what standard of accommodation and restaurants are you using for that price?

We had two weeks in a rented villa, eat and drank out in mid-range restaurants, and it came nowhere near to that. Food and drink in the evening, say in the south-west of England or lakes etc, would have been over £200 per evening for a good food pub or fish restaurant. I reckon we paid around €150 per evening, would have been less if we eat in fast food type of places. Also, a similar rented property would have been 25% more expensive here in the UK.

[Goalkeeper]

I have noticed people complaining about social media whilst scanning social media.

[Dressinggown]

Apart from reading uptheclarets and keeping up to date with the Lancashire League cricket I refuse to use Facebook or other social media sites as they can track your every move.

Potential employers just follow your online profiles prior to any interview. Log into certain websites and they sell your details onto 3rd parties including your email addresses, phone numbers, etc etc.

Big Brother is tracking you.

You cannot leave the house without some form of CCTV capturing you even if it going to the shop.

[Claretfanatic1982]

Apart from reading uptheclarets and keeping up to date with the Lancashire League cricket I refuse to use Facebook or other social media sites as they can track your every move.

Potential employers just follow your online profiles prior to any interview. Log into certain websites and they sell your details onto 3rd parties including your email addresses, phone numbers, etc etc.

Big Brother is tracking you.

You cannot leave the house without some form of CCTV capturing you even if it going to the shop.

Modern day surveillance is not ideal but the way I look at it is, I've got nothing to hide. If someone wants to record my every move , go ahead, it will be boring to watch back. I can understand the worry if you are Jason Bourne or someone similar.

[Dressinggown]

Thankfully, I'm rather uninteresting as far as 'Big Brother' would be concerned.

[Dressinggown]

Although I could commit mass murder within the next couple of days.

[Stanbill05]

I envy the lack of cringe reflex to some extent. I live near a couple of instagram hotspots, with people regularly posing or doing tiktok dances without any cares. Makes them happy (I think) so good luck to them.