Social media. Technology. Everyone uses it. Everyone loves it. Each day something new is invented, a phone is redesigned, a new app is downloaded. Most people cannot go a day without their computer or phone. With all of this new technology, things can be done so much easier. You can pay bills online, shop online, use websites to study online, you can even do your homework online. But one thing that technology has not made easier is communicating.
I long for the days when a simple phone call was only something you did when you had an emergency. I wish that face to face conversations happened more than texting. I miss when your worth wasn't determined by how many favorites you got on a tweet you happened to think was funny, or how many people like your Instagram photo. I want people to understand that texting someone only portrays a part of what they are trying to say; you can't hear their tone, and you don't know if that's what they really want to say by reading their body language.
I wish that my little sisters could grow up without thinking they need an iPad to iMessage their friends to be liked and "in the loop." I wish that I could still drive down my street at home and see kids walking to the lake with their fishing poles, young boys shooting hoops in their driveways, or little girls chalking their driveways with the girl across the street. I wish childhood wasn't about who was ranked higher on a video game. I wish that little girls didn't sit on their computers looking at pictures of girls that are so edited that they will never look like, instead of bonding with a girl from their school.
Today, the Snapchats people send, the pictures they upload to Facebook, and not texting someone back in a fast enough time are all things that often cause issues in relationships. People and children today are experiencing a world where people must know what you are doing and what is going on in your life every second of every day. I wish life was about forming bonds in reality with other people instead of friend requesting someone on Facebook or following them on Twitter.
I want people to realize that the experiences they have in their life with others will be far more important than any type of social media interaction they can have with someone. Men and women these days are too busy keeping up with everyone else's lives to actually live their own. People need to realize that putting themselves behind the screen of an electronic device makes experiencing life dull. It is okay to need privacy or time to yourself, and it is okay to wait to talk to someone in person when you have something important to say, or even if you just want to have a casual conversation.
I love using my computer and phone as much as the next person, but I think it's time for me to put it down and enjoy my college years and the rest of my life. You never know what or who you might miss.
