A Relationship with a Screen
Almost everyone uses social media, but younger generations tend to use it consistently on a daily basis for more than necessities. As I am put in the Generation Z category, we use social media it seems like for everything. I was inspired to write about this topic because of an incident that occurred. I was sitting in my dorm living room and my roommates and I invited some friends over to hangout. As soon as they sat down and the conversation died down they went straight to their phones. I glared around the room and everyone was looking down at their phones which obviously had more of their attention than I could get. Two of the people were texting each other, in the same room!
I strongly believe that my generation and younger generations are simply consumed with technology and it is starting to affect personal relationships. If someone doesn’t follow you on Instagram or add you on Snapchat, it is taken in a personal way. If you don’t comment on your friends’ posts then you’re a bad friend. Living in this new era of technology can sometimes be a challenge. I find myself craving more in-person interaction. Things are often miscommunicated over the phone or text. I miss the days when your friends could have a 20 minute conversation without looking at their phone every five minutes.
If you look around the room, people will avoid conversations by escaping to something more comfortable which most times is their phone. With this mentality, you become consumed with social media. This may seem minor to some people but to be honest, I know personally there has been a lot I’ve missed out on because I was liking a picture on Instagram that I won’t remember in the next two minutes. I encourage people to sit back and take time to savor the moment more. I am not condemning social media or technology as a bad thing, I actually think it is an amazing tool and way to connect, but within moderation. I think some positives are that during a pandemic like this or if you have family and friends that don’t live close, you can stay connected.
