One thing I've never understood even as a teen in the digital age of society is the constant obsession with social media. Yes it can be useful to keep in touch with family members and continue old friendships from not-so-long ago times in middle school. But by the same token, it can also have seriously detrimental effects on society and, a point easily arguable, already has. It's completely taken over the lives of the youth of America as a group with their noses buried in the latest and greatest smartphone perusing their Twitter account or sending random and pointless things through Snapchat. Because of this, there are numerous reasons why we need to put down the phone and get into the real world.
Firstly, cell phones, smart phones in particular, are a huge distraction everywhere we go. In school it distracts heavy users of it to ignore important lessons required to do assignments. But it doesn't just apply to scholarly institutions, but also public places. Has anyone ever had problems watching a movie at the theater because some inconsiderate person thinks their conversation is more important than other moviegoers? Being a kid with ADD, I find a brightly lit screen in a dark movie theater a huge distraction. Heck, my friend started texting someone in the middle of a movie once while they were sitting right next to me! But it's not just phones, it's also what they may be looking at on their phones. Social media sites can also be a huge distraction. Many of my classmates have admitted to having Twitter up and constantly checking updates during class and while doing homework.
Another thing that a lot of people don't think about is how social media and modern communication technology has killed social interaction. One example is how people have learned incorrectly that it's okay to stop and text someone in the middle of a conversation with another person. It's rude and disrespectful, essentially telling them that their text is more important than what you have to say. The digital age has been teaching youngsters that behaviors that should be viewed as socially unacceptable are actually acceptable. Another example is how most people text all the time so when they actually hang out with people they have nothing to talk about.
In the digital age, romance seems to be fading into a lost cause as well. One article from The New York Times discussed how a girl missed out on an opportunity with a guy because she was too engrossed complaining about how she couldn't find a nice guy to date over text message. There was another article we had to read for our AP Lang class that explained how this woman (the writer) had a sort of relationship with a guy, practically a polar opposite to her with no reason that they should have been friends. But she explained how they would always write to each other through letters and how they would completely open up to each other in these letters. Nowadays, we just hop on our phones and text away, leaving the anticipation, the flaws and the romantic aspects behind, presenting what is essentially a superior version of ourselves. Having had a similar experience myself, I can say without a doubt that waiting for a letter is far superior romantically than any text could ever convey.
So the next time you feel like texting in a movie theater or complaining about your love life, don't just sit there and text about it, do something. Sit back and enjoy the movie, your friend will be there afterwards. Listen to what other people have to say; you might just learn something interesting. Instead of getting your coffee and heading back home, sit down at the cafe and chat up some girl/guy you think looks hot. But most importantly, put down the f@#$%&g phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment