It's not just modern man. Before phones and tablets came out, women couldn't tear their men away from the TV, especially when the "big game" was on. Before that, they couldn't get their men to put down the newspaper and have a real conversation (there was at least one episode of I Love Lucy that specifically dealt with this issue). I bet it goes all the way back to caveman times, when I suspect men were constantly preoccupied with keeping the fire going at night or scanning the horizon for mammoths. Men haven't changed, just the technology has.
Also, I suspect it's more likely that Maya has been trying to get attention from the viewers than from Stepan. That's how the site makes money, after all.