Technology can be a very great thing. Thanks to advancements in technology, people stay in touch with loved ones no matter where they are in the world, not to mention all of the great medical advances that have been made due to the increase in new technology over the years.
Those things are great, but has anyone else besides me ever taken a step back and realized all of the negative effects technology has had on our generation? Through social media and being able to text all of your family and close friends non-stop, what is this doing to our communication skills? Also, what is this doing to the way we view other human beings?
As the natural people watcher that I am, I was out last week and just for fun decided to look around me and see how many people were on their phones (if you’re ever out and bored, I highly suggest this). Everywhere I turned, no matter if they were out to dinner, with friends, or even had someone speaking directly to them, there were people on their phones everywhere. Let’s be real, we’ve all been out to eat with a friend or family member trying to have a nice time and they’re on their phone every five seconds.
On the subject of going out to eat, it seems to be a new trend to, instead of just enjoying your meal, you have to take the perfect picture of it before and make sure to post it on social media. I mean come on, if you don’t post it did it really happen? (I say that with as much sarcasm as humanly possible)
The same seems to happen when people go to concerts now, too. I’ve been to numerous concerts in the past year and all I see around me when I’m there is hundreds of bright screens recording the performance in front of them. Again, if you don’t post it on Snapchat every five seconds, are you even really there? In all seriousness, how can you even enjoy a concert if you are watching it through the screen of your phone for three hours?
These are just everyday instances where technology is taking over. Now let’s move on to where it’s really affecting us all: the dating department. Blind dates? No such thing. In all actuality, first dates are normally like the third because by the time you meet, you’ve stalked their social media so much that you know everything from their birthday to the value of their home. As if dating isn’t scary enough in itself, adding technology to the mix is even worse. The mystery of getting to know someone is completely gone.
Where I see the biggest disconnect in the dating scene is when you text someone for awhile, normally to make sure they’re normal before you actually go on a date. You text them, Snapchat, whatever, they seem normal so you’re like “Hey, why not?” You go to hangout with them… and they have no clue how to properly communicate. Can’t even hold a conversation. It astounds me how I can have a completely normal conversation with someone online or through texts, but then I meet them in person and it’s like they have a second personality!
Because of technology, people don’t have to communicate the way that they used to. People our age would rather look at their phones or touch a screen than hold hands with a partner. Everything from Instagram, to Snapchat , even Tinder now makes it even easier for people to hookup without having to put in the face-to-face communication effort they normally would have to. By prioritizing technology the way our generation does, instead of having communication and in-person interactions, we don’t understand the value of humans or what it means to treat others with respect, which is why a lot of times we don’t.
Lastly, for some odd reason, since communication is so easily accessible due to technology now, people think it’s completely normal to talk to their significant other every minute of the day, every single day. I’m sorry… but I don’t know how you constantly have something to talk about. No wonder relationships “lose the spark” so quickly our age. What happened to the mystery of getting to someone? What happened to over time getting closer to someone and slowly opening up to them? It’s like our generation is in this phase of “all or nothing”. It’s not normal, or healthy.
Technology can be a beautiful thing, but it can also be a really bad thing depending on how we utilize it. MY NAME IS KELSIE PATRICK AND I BELIEVE IN FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION!
