It's helpful socially to be able to check the time subtly. A tap or large wrist motion makes it look like you're trying to tell whoever you're with that they should be paying attention to the time.

I understand what you're saying. However, I don't see how that's much different from glancing at any number of clocks: for instance at the office when I glance at the time in the corner of my computer screen, when I'm in a meeting room and glance at the clock on the wall, etc. People notice that motion all the time.

I notice when people do this to me as well. Either way you'd need to glance at your watch, which means your eyes move somewhere else and you lose eye contact with whoever you're with/speaking to.

Eye movement is more subtle than wrist movement. In the course of a normal conversation one breaks eye contact numerous times anyway.

I don't have any watches with lights (mine are all mechanical; a few have glow in the dark features), so that's not something I ever did in the past.

How is it different? I don't know how to describe it really. But as someone who has worn a watch all my adult life, and has now been wearing the Apple Watch for a year (not every day, but fairly frequently; other days I wear different watches), it still feels totally different in a very annoying way. Did you wear a watch before you got the Apple Watch? I wonder if it's really just a difference of what you're used to. I can't articulate it well, but for me it's very different. The question of "how is it different" is like asking "why don't you like the color brown?" I dunno, I just don't.