“The young people these days have lost the simple art of talking on the phone.”

Millennials are always accused of being texting maniacs--”talking” to them means exchanging impersonal written words across a screen. However, times are changing because a new epidemic has taken hold. The young people are now obsessed with communicating over real-time, close up livestream. Facetime offers the intimate experience of talking to your friends from a very personal, uncomfortable, weird selfie angle.

I personally use Facetime out of sheer laziness. It’s frustrating trying to convey my riveting daily events with rapid thumb movements across a two-inch keyboard. Why not present my winding tales with the full effect of peculiar facial expressions and vocal modulation?

Naturally, Millennials love Facetime because we function best when we are granted immediate gratification. There is nothing more agonizing than sending a text and waiting for a response while watching the grey bubble pop up with those damn three dancing dots. Those dots mockingly move just to trap you in stressful anticipation. However, Facetime allows you to put your friends on the spot and get answers quick. I mean that’s what it’s all about, right?

This handy tool is especially valuable in college because there are people we love who are far away. My grandparents are snow birds, so they spend the winters down in Palm Beach. Meanwhile, I'm tucked up here in the snowy capital of America. In the cold months in Lewiston, Maine when darkness is upon us at 3pm, it's nice to get a glimpse of some palm trees and sun.

Facetime even makes everything better on campus. Whether it's when you're lying in bed on a Sunday morning (or afternoon) and need to re-cap the night with your buddies or when you need some serious study help on a Tuesday, Facetime is the ideal intermediary between you and your people. There is nothing in the virtual world as authentic and personal than bearing your Sunday morning self or your internal stressed out student than the live video.