"Humans of New York," colloquially known as "HONY," is a beautiful page. The creator has crafted an expansive record of thousands of New Yorkers and their stories. His photographic style is also impeccable, as he is able to convey emotions and experiences within a frame. And, despite the title, I have the deepest respect for the creator and his artistic and humanistic works.
My qualms with HONY stem from the notion of it existing as a Facebook page. By posting photographs via Facebook, perhaps the most vapid and time-consuming forms of social media, we reduce the people of HONY's stories to simple likes, comments, and shares. Many of these people are prostrating themselves, confessing great emotional turmoil. Yet, we read, we like, and we move on. The innate structure of social media means that we are simply passing by these people's stories, without any thought or reflection.
"Yet, we read, we like, and we move on."
This ultimately is our own fault, as a society. We no longer wish to have social interaction with people we do not know. We brush by stories every day and miss fantastic opportunities to learn about the people passing in and out of our lives.
We have replaced social interaction with social media. We do not find stories or interact with strangers, we simply expect them to be delivered to us via our smartphones. In fact, we no longer interact with the people around us. We are so busy reading the stories on our phone, we forget to interact with our friends and families. Adults often worry about our generation, whether we will be successful and fulfilled. I even worry with them, too.
