The present is a gift, let's spend more time enjoying it than recording it on phones

Early on Jan 1, Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi on X, formerly Twitter) shared this video that has since gone viral online with this caption: 'I normally don’t think much of these pictures showing people on smartphones but this video from last night in Paris is pretty wild.' The image was republished by 'India Today' and most mainstream newspapers worldwide.

Tell me, what was the first thing you reached for in 2024? Your phone? Well, you were not alone.

There’s a video of the 2024 New Year's countdown in Paris showing a huge sea of mobile phones – people were trying to capture the moment rather than actually live it. The video sparked a debate on social media, with critics saying the revellers were “not living in the moment” and that this was “dystopian”.