Few would dispute that technology has improved our lives for the better. It has created an entirely new level of efficiency, accelerated medical advancements and expanded research methods to frontiers that were once imaginable. It connects us to people on the other side of the world in a matter of seconds. Everything and anything we need can be accessed in an instant.
When we Millennials were babies, our parents went to work, the grocery store, or even on a run without being in contact with anyone else. In only two decades, we have reached the point of constant contact and communication, where we can't even imagine a time when the Internet wasn't the center of daily life. In all honesty, I like being in close, immediate contact with my family and friends whether near or far. But how much is too much?
While all of these positives seem like just another part of daily life, technology has also created a large void in our lives that many of us are oblivious to. More often than not we forget that there are disadvantages to having everything at our fingertips. But how can we forget something that we didn't even know to begin with?
When we meet someone new, making connections with them includes accessing his or her social media pages in just a few clicks. The "creeping" that has become synonymous with Facebook completely strips us of getting to know someone the old-fashioned way. Now, we can find out where a person is from, who they previously dated, and what their interests are merely by clicking on their screen name, without any human interaction.
Normal spoken conversation has been replaced with impersonal electronic messages. We can edit text messages and posts to social media to the point of neurosis, but words spoken cannot be deleted so easily. In the interpretation of texts and even emails, we lose so much of the raw emotion that is crucial in getting to know somebody. We cannot hear the tone or inflection of voice in a text, nor can we see their facial expressions or body language. When was the last time you actually laughed out loud at a funny quip in a conversation? LOLs are not the best medicine; laughter is.
We find ourselves misreading into simple conversations, searching for a deeper meaning that becomes lost between screens. We use only our personal beliefs and knowledge to decipher what is "dinging" onto our iPhone, making the conversation extremely one-sided. Who can make a sound decision and therefore a sound response without experiencing all of the tangible components of a conversation?
We long for the romance seen in Nicholas Sparks movies, but sell ourselves short by sending emoticons rather than emoting. We send "good morning texts," but not actual love letters. We plan Skype dates, but not surprise picnics in the park. We share playlists rather than dancing in the refrigerator light. What happened to waiting to see someone, to be so excited to bump into your crush in the hallway after class, to the butterflies in your stomach just thinking about it?
While social media only continues to grow, our actual social skills continue to shrink. Every aspect of our lives, even the most vulnerable, has become diluted by technology. "We met online" has become the rule, not the exception. To find the real relationships we all want, we must look away from our screens longer than a nanosecond. We must start wearing our hearts on our sleeves and not in our "bios" on Instagram.
