It’s a grand irony that devices designed to connect us actually isolate us more and more.

You chose an effective narrator to illustrate your point, but I feel it would be even more effective if maybe it wasn’t so expository-feeling. Or maybe that’s not it. I’m having trouble pinpointing one thing that keeps this from being a slam dunk for me, because detached is good when we’re talking about aliens, usually. Maybe it’s that some things seem really strange to him—he calls humans “bipedal beings”—but knows almost immediately what the phones are.

Stovohobo, I agree with you on the "brick” I shot here, I feel the same way. I can’t figure out why this seems “so close and yet so far”. But to be sure, he doesn’t say they are using phones, just “electronic devices”.

I think it is pretty good, the detached narrator makes him seem like a scientist.

I quite like this. I agree with smdasilva, the protagonist feels detached which seems good. There is also a Twilight Zone reversal going on where an alien is noticing US becoming less “human”. Love the tags!

Desolate and heartbreaking, but also close to home. Well done! I know that some of the comments have said that it doesn’t quite work, but I think you’ve crafted an excellent story in the 1024 characters you had to work with.