Our generation has grown up accustomed to countless online social media platforms: Myspace profiles, Yahoo chat rooms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and let us not forget, the infamous Tinder. 89% of our age group, 18-29 year olds, have a social profile on some type of online site. Are you shocked? Most likely not. Why? Because this is who we are.
Our tweets, our posts and our pictures seem to have a huge factor in how we see ourselves and how others perceive us. While we can all agree that our lives will likely be the most documented in all of human history, there's a few reasons why this may not be a wonderful thing.
1. Our constant updating and checking mentally removes us from our surroundings. Whether or not we want to admit it, this first one is painfully present in our society. We bring our phones everywhere we go. If it's not attached to our hips or at least in the same room we feel naked and lost. I cannot even tell you how many times I've gone out to eat with friends and family, and watched as other tables sat dead silent, as each person stared into their tiny bright screen. Rather than speaking to each other and being attentive, they sit in utter silence. Why not just eat by yourself if that's what you would prefer to do with your time? In my opinion, this destroys valuable time with your loved ones, who unlike the people you're looking at online, actually took the time to sit down and catch up with you. We need to focus more on enjoying those who are actually present. You miss out on conversations, pieces and body language as people are speaking, which are major social skills to learn at our age.
2. Stalking other people will never make you feel better about yourself.
Let's be real here. We all follow those people on various social accounts just so we can creepily construct a scheme on how we can be more like them. Boys follow male fitness accounts, TFM, and iLikeGirlsDaily, then day dream about one day having rock hard abs while also being able to do keg stands and pull mass amounts of straight 10's. Girls follow swimsuit models and other "Instafamous" girls who have exposed enough online to get the attention of thousands of followers. We sit and stare at a constant feed of flawless features and perfect bodies while our confidence simultaneously takes a sucker punch to the gut. My point being, comparing ourselves to these images (which are frequently photoshopped and highly edited), does nothing to positively improve our lives. If you want a little inspiration to workout or just get ready in the morning, these are a sure fire solution. However, our obsession to become these people takes away from who we are.
3. Our attention spans have gone to complete crap.
How many times have you reached for your phone the minute you lose interest in a conversation or classroom lecture? It's like we've been given a eternally easy way out of situations we aren't happy with. In public, we consider it creepy for a stranger to speak to each other, even if it's simply to wish them a good day. That's too much effort, and we have better things to do. Looking around and appreciating what's in front of us? No way! People continuously choose to read twitter and then refresh our picture feed and then do it all over again. We can no longer focus on one subject at a time; which is no surprise when you can watch TV while scrolling through your news feed and texting your BFF's in a group chat at the same time. With all of these extremely important activities to do, where exactly does studying and homework time fit in? It's hard to say.
4. Real life VS. Online personality
How many people have you met in person and then realized they're the complete opposite online? They seem so shy and reserved face to face, but they seem to have absolutely no filter or lack of opinion on their profile. This freakish double personality tendency creates an unreliable and confusing impression to you and there is too much disconnect to figure out who this person truly is. That to me is a major issue. It's hard enough trying to get to know someone for who they truly are on a personal level, and adding an entirely new dimension is impossible. Who you are should reflect on every level: personal, social and online.
Don't get me wrong, there are absolutely no specific groups of people I'm trying to point out here. This is an entire population issue, myself included. We've placed so much emphasis on our reputation online and lost our ability to live in the moment, free from distractions. Constant technology will alway be present in our lives, it isn't going away. We just have to learn to balance real life with the online world. So, if you're reading this article right now while your mom or best friend or even dog is waiting patiently for your undivided attention, go ahead and press that lock button. You may be surprised on what you've been missing out on for a long time.
