“Social” Media,
How many of you reading this have anything that would be considered social media? I am talking about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, Pinterest, and so on. These online places are supposed to connect people to close friends, acquaintances, family, strangers, and people from across the world, or anyone you would not meet on a normal basis. What if I told you that these so-called “social” and “connecting” networks are, in reality, pushing and dividing people farther and farther apart? When you think about it, technology is taking people beyond what we have ever dreamed before. Technology is also separating people more than people could ever imagine.
Think about the times that you have told a friend, acquaintance, stranger, or family member that you would hang out with them. How many times did your hangout time turn into Facetime, Snapchat, or some way of video calling? What about the new craze and obnoxious phrase of “Netflix and Chill?” People, in particular youth, now consider sitting in front of a blinding screen with the only sound being the movie or show they are watching. Where is the social interaction? Where is the physical and mental connection? The only thing groups of “Netflix and Chill” people are connecting to are lifeless screen and artificial sounds.
All of the social sites are boasting about how much they are connecting and joining people together. These networks are constantly putting out falsified evidence of connecting people without face-to-face interaction. The most important part of human contact happens when a person is able to see, hear, and touch the other person they are trying to connect to. Why has our world been wholly consumed with technology that is advancing our ever-changing world but not our basic human need of in-person interaction?
Generations that are just now coming up and into our fast-paced world are growing up with the artificial knowledge of believing that “hang-out time” and “social interaction” can only happen through a phone, computer, or television screen. There have been numerous studies done over and over again that have produced similar results about how underdeveloped and unhuman-like people become when physical and in-person contact are replaced with artificial machines. Older generations believe that millennials are the biggest problem when it comes to technology. What they fail to realize is that we did not have a phone in our hand until we were at least to the adolescent age. Kids that are growing up currently have some type of technological machine in their hand anywhere from birth to toddler age.
We need to remember that we will become the most robotic like and unemotional species if we continue to only find human-like comfort in machines. I am not at all saying that technology is completely bad. Humans are the operators. Our intentions and choices are the main factors that will ultimately determine how the future generations will prosper and grow. Technology can be our friend; but remember that it can also be our definitive downfall as far as social interactions go. The next time you go on to social media seeking human interaction, remember that humans are the closest you will ever come to complete comfort in real life.
