To the contrary of many of the commenters who found this piece overly dramatic or crazy, I found that it largely matches my experience. I am a new college-graduate this year, so I’ve had ample opportunity to observe my peers and those slightly younger in their interactions with technology. I found that this piece rung true with my experience and observations.

Two points hit close to home for my personal experience as a human. First, the passage about constant attachment to the phone, using it until sleep at night and first thing in the morning, felt like it was describing me and most of my friends. Second, the passage about ignoring those who are physically present in favor of an electronic device describes almost perfectly the behavior of my younger sister (rising sophomore in college).

I disagree with the bulk of commenters here who dismissed the piece as mere clickbait. Yes, the style of the headline and article tone was that of clickbait. But it almost self-consciously pointed out that the point of generational analysis should not be to make value judgement, but rather to observe characteristics. And I think that at its core it did make a valuable observation about the current generation, and even if the piece itself ought not make value judgments about generational behavioral trends, its observation can act as a springboard for self reflection. At times I wonder if the trade off I’ve made by using a smartphone improves my life on balance. Avoiding the pitfalls of constant connectedness requires mindfulness, and I think pieces like this can inspire it.