Social media has no doubt grown to become something that nobody expected only a few years ago. It has become an invaluable tool for things such as journalism and free speech, allowing people to express whatever it is that they want to express, from what they had for breakfast to the dissent that people have towards their government.
Particularly, social media has created a better, more positive dynamic during times of crisis
But aside from times of need, disaster or political upheaval, maybe we are being over connected to social media.
Do not get me wrong: social media has been an extraordinarily crucial medium in not only getting out and spreading the word, but in allowing people a voice and in certain cases allowing outsiders a view as to what is really happening, for example what happened in Egypt or Iran last year. It should be said that while ther is no doubt that social media such as twitter and facebook have helped in ways that were never thought possible, I think it should be important for people to embrace social media, but to make sure to avoid being constantly connected all the time.
More and more, we are all becoming ever connected. The rate at which people purchase smartphones as opposed to regular phones is increasingly helping people be connected to each other through various apps and programs around the clock. At an ever increasing rate, people are demanding greater connection at faster speeds that better allow us to be constantly ‘on’. Because of this, people expect lighting fast replies to texts and emails. BBM even has the feature that allows the sender to see if the recipient has received and even read their messages, which creates an overtone that the recipient is expected to answer right away. We want everything right away.
And it doesn’t look like it’s changing.
If we were to describe our current generation through pictures, the one that represents this need towards constant and ever expanding desire to be connected to social media, would be an image I see everyday: people walking on the sidewalk with their necks cranked down to read their iPhone or Blackberry. Take a look around you, anywhere and everywhere you go people are focused on what’s in their hands, being completely oblivious to the world around them.
It is also interesting to note that as we have become a more and more connected generation, we have also become less and less personal. For example, when was the last time you actually called a friend? Or left a voicemail message? More and more we are becoming less personal, yet at the same time expecting responses right away as if we were in a verbal conversation.
There have also been studies done that show that our brains are becoming exhausted with the constant information overload, never being able to take a rest. This bombardment of information, which includes the latest going-ons on your facebook news feed, does not allow our brains to take a break. Constantly being connected means that there is a constant onslaught of information.
Part of the reason why people are always wanting to be connected to one another is because of our aversion to boredom. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is said that it is from boredom that creativity is spawned, and this is hindered when we are constantly updating, checking, tweeting and facebooking. It is important for people to value and cherish the boredom that can be fitted into the day, how little of it we have anyway.
This is not to mention how absurd it is for people to tweet events that people are going through as it is happening. How can you fully embrace yourself in the moment if you have to take time to tell people about how much you are enjoying being in that said moment.
Again, there is no doubt that social media has become an increasingly important tool for a variety of reasons, especially during times of need and emergency, with the ousting of Mubarak in Egypt being a prime example. But as we move forward, during our everyday lives, it is crucial and healthy to unwind, take a step back and disconnect because what else are you going to have to talk to your friends about if you know exactly everything that they’ve been doing?
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