Is It Scrolling Or Screening?

Being on the phone while the TV plays is the new normal. Just don't do it when there's company. A case for what it means to be present

- Urvee Modwel

You switch on the big screen. It plays something comforting. Alongside, the more important small screen is at hand, for doomscrolling purposes. And so it goes, night after night after night, the perfect safe space. You're in the zone.

So, why is it so impossible to get out of that zone when there's company? The newest this-or-that argument on the internet is whether solo-scrolling on the phone is OK while everyone's watching something on the bigger screen together.

As first-world problems go, it's as ubiquitous as it is harmless. The scroller thinks they're merely multitasking. Everyone else finds it rude. It's less intrusive than talking during a film. But more conspicuous.