Attention

I like attention. I think we all do, some more than others. We want to be seen, heard, liked, loved. It is part of what makes dating so appealing - knowing that someone is interested in you, thinking about you, looking at you, touching you, perhaps trying to understand you or getting to know you. This is a validating experience. People are relational and, though some need more time with people than others, we all need people and thus attention.
Without attention, a baby cannot survive. And yet even as most of us grow to be more independent, at our core we are still dependent on others for physical and emotional survival. Nobody likes to be ignored and those who feel most consistently ignored seem the most depressed, in my experience.
That is why it is important to pay attention to others, not to be buried in our phones or schedules to avoid awkwardness or challenges. Working on social skills is healthy for all of us.