When I started high school in 2007, a flip phone was the most coveted thing that anyone could have. It was fashionable and you could text all of your friends and look cool when you flipped open your phone to answer a call. I was never cool enough to have a flip phone when they were popular, but now that I do have one, I feel like it would be awesome if everyone else did too because of its durability and aspects that I think can help make you a better person. Before Tinder, Snapchat and Instagram (all social media accounts that I do not have), people used cell phones to talk to people, to hear their voice when they were on the go and text when it was only absolutely necessary, not as a substitution for actual conversations face to face.
I feel that if everyone had a flip phone again, instead of an iPhone of Android, then we may be able to talk to each other face to face again and create relationships with people that are actually worthwhile and not based on whether they snapped you back a photo of their beer or double tapped the half-naked photo of yourself in their feed. The benefits are plentiful when you decide to change your ways and ditch the smartphone for an old school flip phone.
You won’t have to be so vain.
Everyone in this generation is obsessed with taking a crazy number of selfies and only feel good about themselves if other people “like” them. I’m all for self confidence, but it is sad that smartphone apps have turned people my age into egocentric maniacs that need constant approval and attention through photographs of what they look like when they first wake up or what they are eating for dinner. Just enjoy what you are doing and how you look at the moment with your own eyes. You can’t always record and post everything you are doing every minute if you use a flip phone. Smartphones have turned people in our generation, and younger, into people who need constant approval from people they do not know. Having a flip phone can slowly but surely help rid that dependency.
You do not need to rely on your phone to meet people.
For some reason it has been fashionable for young people to rely on their cell phones and social media apps for keeping or establishing relationships in their lives. On my sister’s first day of tenth grade, the teacher ended her class early and everyone — I mean every single 15-year-old in the class, was on their phone, and not one kid was talking to another. Smartphones are disintegrating peoples’ social skills. People do not want to talk to or meet anyone face to face anymore. That needs to change. People were perfectly fine making relationships thirty years ago when cell phones were not even heard of yet. Having a flip phone can push you out of your comfort zone to meet some new people without swiping right on a dating app. Sure, those outlets are okay to meet people if you aren’t very good with your social skills, but I think having a flip phone can switch up the way you interact with the people around you because you will not be focusing so much on your phone.
You will focus on your friends and family more.
As I have observed throughout this huge technology take-over with smartphones, young people, like us (and way younger), are spending so much time on their phones that they are not paying attention to the people around them. I just found out that it has an actual term — phubbing. Phubbing is when a person favors being on their cell phone swiping through whatever is on the feed of their (insert social media outlet name here) to actual face to face communication. I have had this done to me plenty of times with my good friends. Maybe I’m not that great at entertaining them, but it really is a mean thing to do and can lead to issues with the relationship. A flip phone will totally make phubbing a thing of the past because when it takes two minutes to just type one text message, and the extra internet costs, face to face interaction with your loved ones will become a dominant form of communication once again.
Durability.
Since everyone has to justify their reasoning for having a cell phone with them every single second of every day, I understand that it is not likely for people to toss their phones and live life without that seemingly vital piece of technology. Although I did not have a cell phone for three years until I recently purchased my $15 prepaid flip phone, I was completely fine meeting new people and having relationships — but I digress. Everyday use will not wear on your nearly-indestructible smartphone. As long as you don’t get it wet or feed it after midnight, your flip phone will be fine and you will also save a ton of money. Rather than going out and buying the brand new version of the same phone you already have, a flip phone is dirt cheap, and the screen will not shatter if you drop it on the floor.
Anna Wintour uses one.
Okay, this is not that good of a reason, but hey, it’s Anna Wintour. If you have been living under a rock and do not know who Anna Wintour is, she is the fashionable and respected editor-in-chief of the world’s most “in” magazine, Vogue. She also admitted in an interview with Vogue that she uses a flip phone. She said that she has never taken a selfie and doesn’t plan on ever doing so. Wintour is not the only fashionable celebrity that has been seen with a flip phone: Rihanna, Kate Beckinsale and Iggy Pop have all been spotted with flip phones. Yes, celebrities aren’t that much of a big deal, who cares if they have a flip phone, but think of the reason they all have in common for using one — simplicity. A flip phone is the definition of having a one-track mind when it comes to a cell phone. Make a call or make a text; that is it. There is no room for other things to distract from what you really need the phone for. And if the woman who has the power to start and end so many trends in the world of fashion carries a flip phone, we can all learn a thing or two from her, even if it is just the phone she uses.
Comments are closed.