As previously stated, there are multiple aspects to every human life: family life, friendship life, and relationship life. In order to analyze the effects of technology on these aspects of human life, I conducted an experiment entitled The Dinner Table Experiment. Within the experiment the independent variable was technology, the dependent variable was the amount of conversation that took place after the introduction of technology and the control group was the oldest age group. The experiment consisted of taking the different age groups within generation Z and analyzing the role that technology played in them eating dinner with family and friends. The idea behind the experiment was to analyze how technology plays into the time humans are supposed to spend conversing with one another. However, it is important to realize that we expect different behaviors from different age groups. For this reason, I separated the Dinner Table Experiment into three separate age groups: children, teenagers, and adults. The differing results from these three groups proved to speak volumes regarding the adolescent youth’s ability and desire to participate in in-person interactions.
     The first group that I analyzed consisted of ages 2-6 years old. I went out to eat with my family and my little cousins that fall into this age category joined us. Due to the nature of my research, I figured that this dinner would be a unique opportunity to analyze the behavior of the young children at the dinner table, specifically pertaining to social interaction. When we first entered the restaurant the children said their hellos, and once we were seated they shortly conversed with the adults that were going out of their way to talk to them and ask them questions about pre-school, kindergarten, and first grade. However, once the small talk with the children ended I noticed a very specific pattern take place. The kids asked their mother for their iPads, and just like that, they were checked out of any other conversation taking place at the dinner table for the rest of dinner. As my eyes wandered around the restaurant I realized that my table was not the only table undergoing this routine. The entire restaurant was filled with children on their iPads and the adults around them conversing as if the child was not there. This disconnect in public dining creates an association with restaurants and iPads in the children’s minds, and the effect of this association can be analyzed in the next age group. 
     The next age group that I analyzed at the dinner table was the teenage age group that consisted of ages 15-19. I went out to dinner with my friends from the drama program in my high school and decided to analyze our behavior when interacting with one another over dinner. While there were many laughs and conversation, I analyzed that within every conversation at least one or two people from the group were distracted by something on their phones. As dinner went on, I noticed that by the first twenty minutes all of us had checked our phones at least 5 times. I found our need to stay updated on social media while being surrounded by a group of people in real life very difficult to come to terms with. I also found that within this age group, documenting and posting about the time that we were spending together through snapchat and Instagram was constant. We were showing others how much fun we were having together rather than just genuinely enjoying each other’s presence without actually needing to post about it. I then told the group “Guys let’s put our phones in the middle of the table and just talk.” Everyone laughed but complied. We then talked for a great deal of time having much longer and much more meaningful conversation; however, it only lasted for about half an hour before someone felt the need to take their phone from the middle and check their snapchat. 
     The final age group that I analyzed was the adult age group which consisted of ages 30-50. This generation was my control group because they did not grow up during the rise and technology of social media; therefore, their dependency on these aspects of life are significantly less when being compared to the other two age groups. I had dinner with my parents and their friends when I first got home for spring break, and once food was on the table, not one adult took at their phone. As we ate no one was distracted by their devices. Every single person at the table was engaged and listening to those around them. Once the food was gone some individual’s checked their phones. However, this age group showed the least interaction with their technological devices during dinner. Their ability and desire to interact in in-person interactions was far greater when being compared to the other two age groups. 
     The results of this experiment speak volumes on the effects of social media and technology on different generations. The dinner table is an iconic symbol of American Society. It is where a group of people come together to enjoy each other’s presence and share with one another. The dinner table is the pillar of human interaction.  However, technology is budding into this old tradition and making some changes.
 Within the first group, technology had the strongest impact on social interaction. Most of the children in the restaurant would rather interact with their iPads than interact with the other individuals at the dinner table. The children have developed a strong association between public dining and iPads. This has been a routine for them every single time that they have gone to a restaurant, so their to desire to interact has been depleted by a regular routine. While the routine has been put in place to keep them behaved at dinner, it has also had a negative effect on their desire to converse with others.
      Within the second group, there was much more to be analyzed. This group had an incessant desire to constantly share whatever was going on in their lives and constantly check what others were doing in their lives. This desire got in the way of their ability to fully participate in in-person interactions. 
     Finally, the last group proved to be a strong control variable given the sharp contrast in their behaviors when being compared to the other two groups. This group was essential to proving the decline in desire to participate in in-person interactions through the rise of social media. This group did not grow up during the social media renaissance and therefore displayed little to no dependence on that world when faced with in-person interactions. However, the other two groups struggled to stay away from technology and social media even when in the presence of real human interaction. 
     The results from The Dinner Table Experiment truly define the power that social media holds to interfere with family, friendship, and relationship life. Social media is more than a tool granted to society, it is an evident addiction poisoning society (Brooks, Longstreet 74). Internet addiction is defined as “a state where is of the internet becomes compulsive; the user starts to develop a dependence on the Internet for their psychological well-being, and said user experiences unpleasant feelings when deprived of the Internet (Brooks, Longstreet 74).” This evident dependence on social media and technology can be directly analyzed by the two younger groups tested in The Dinner Table Experiment. The individuals who have grown up in generation Z have displayed an evident addiction to the cyber world which has implanted a clear lack of ability to fully participate in in-person interaction without technological interruptions.