Just like everyone else, I did not at the time realize how uncouth it was to be on your phone while someone tried to speak with you. What do I know? It was the new norm! So I was going along with the flow. I decided to blog on this subject because I realized that too often such things happen and no one in our social circle is bold enough to address it.
The progress made in the field of technology in this day and age has broken global communication barriers, but complicated the very essence of meaningful relationships. It has become nearly impossible to hold a conversation with someone without their phone interfering. We have become slaves to technology and feel at lost without it. We are in the generation where losing our phone causes more havoc than losing our wallets. I ask myself where I would be if I was born and raised in this social media age. The effects of social media are far more than we choose to acknowledge. We must make a conscious effort to spend quality time with friends and family without the constant need to post, comment, or like a photo on Facebook. These sites have become our realities, when in truth a huge discrepancy still exist between our real lives and our social media lives.
I think you explained the new normal very well. Although I must admit I may have been one of those friends at the table engulfed in my notifications and Facebook post. Too busy taking pictures of our food to eat it. Guilty as charged. I decided to weigh in on this topic because last week while out at dinner I witnessed two young people on a date and they must of said about 10 words to each other. Both parties were engaged in separate text conversations on their phones. (yes I was being nosy) I just found it sad that our generation is so distracted by social media and quite frankly instant gratification that we cant set out devices aside to ask the person across the table how was your day and actually taking the time to listen...will we ever get that kind of communication back?
ReplyDeleteNicely stated and great example as well. I do also wonder if we will return to good old human interaction. However the pace at which social media networks are increasing proves that this issue will get worse before it becomes better.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is great I think but it has made face to face communication harder and even less. Sometime last year I was hanging out with my HS friends and can you believe we couldn't hold a conversation without someone texting or fb or checking instagram. I felt like we could of stayed home and texted each other. Society have become all about social media. Growing up I have always believe I do not have the best face to face communication because I have chatted behind a computer growing up that it has affected my face to face interaction. Truly I think it is very sad when I see couples who are always on their phones that is my worst pet peeve and I truly avoid being on my phone when I am with my boyfriend or with family and friends unless its an important phone call or text. I feel like it is very rude and especially as a couple its worst in my opinion because I barely see my boyfriend I value every moment we are together
ReplyDeleteIt's good for you that you have learned a such a young age the importance of face to face communication and making efforts to spend quality time with loved ones without social media interference. And great example.
DeleteGreat post. And I agree that we live in an age where technology and social media has taken over. Its a hard debate at the same time because many businesses, news outlets, politics, etc have come to use social media. People work online, make connections online and do alot of very good things. The problem comes in when we can't separate whats important in our personal lives with what is superficial or day to day. We will never be able to get the time back that we did not spend with loved ones if we are not careful with our media usage.
ReplyDelete@mims I agree and great point about separating the 2.
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