I love social media.

I can tweet, Facebook and Instagram all before brushing the #hashtags out of my teeth. But as I sat in my local pub, the hushed chat and clinking glasses that had been the background noise to much of my adult life had been replaced by a perplexing silence.

Had I unintentionally gatecrashed the Hertfordshire deaf association’s office party? Or were the years of frequenting ear-bursting events finally catching up with me? Either way, mischief was afoot and as I looked around, the source became obvious. Every table was aglow with the dim light of technology. A family of seven sat in silence, both young and old, as their veiny white knuckles gripped the sides of their chosen techno poison like a crack addict clasping the fiver that sures up his next hit.

Clearly the tech revolution has taken over, and long may it live, but when did we become so incapable of human interaction that the sanctity of the local watering hole could be silenced by the tinkle of a Facebook notification. We are no longer a society of real-life rendezvousers but rather a gaggle of fleshy internet carriers, beeping and belting out information to our fellow zombie users.

And sure, I accept responsibility for some of it - it is indeed my generation that lustfully fondled the manic desire to exist in a quasi-celebrity state -vomiting our every mundane piece of self-worth in a 140-character tweet. But when a country pub has been breached, we must revolt.

Don’t misunderstand me – the wonders of the internet link us to millions of people all over the world, dissolve borders and make common understanding possible.

And yet here I am, in the backwaters of Hertfordshire, surrounded by my countrymen but sat in silence, as my friend #instagrams a picture of the complimentary nuts. When the act of dipping one’s toes in the whines and woes of our fellow man whilst supping on a pint of the good stuff is dead, one is left, mouth agape, asking just one question. Can it truly be that in this age of global communication, the only thing connecting us now as humans is the Wi-Fi? I’ll have to ask my #twitter followers and get back to you.