Some media experts worry that all the connectivity has not necessarily strengthened our relationships. Sometimes, in face-to-face encounters, we are
not really present because we are checking our mobile phones for text messages
or searching for information on our smartphones. One expert terms this the
“ absent presence. ” 23 Another suggests that technology gives us control over our
relationships and makes it easy for us to communicate when and how we wish,
so that we often choose technologies, like texting or voice-mail messages, that
actually distance us from each other. 24